Catch a Tiger by the tail
by K.C.Dragonfly
Summary: Where there is desire, there is going to be a flame; where there is a flame someone's bound to get burned ... but just because it burns doesn't mean you're going to die...
1. It's only 2 o'clock

**New story as promised :) Part-request from Foxfire01 - I hope you all enjoy it :)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own CSI or its characters etc**

**x x x x**

"Guys." Grissom interrupted, poking his head around the door. "Potential 402A in progress at a high-rise apartment building Downtown."

"Arson." Warrick shifted naturally into professionalism mode, raising an eyebrow. "What's the address?" Grissom narrowed his eyes at the note in his hand.

"Cambridge Park Towers. Vartann is meeting us there."

"Wait, hold up." Nick jumped in swiftly before the boss could disappear. "Cambridge Park?"

"Yeah." Grissom frowned. "Do you know it?"

The Texan swallowed hard, sharing a knowing look with the equally-panicked Greg. "That's Sara's building."

X x x

The car screeched to a halt halfway down the road and the team piled out, abandoning the vehicle where it had landed.

Thick black smoke billowed out of the windows of the ten-story building, as bright flames licked at the crisp night air.

Debris and cracked stone fell from the walls, raining down on the devastated residents gathered below. They barely seemed to notice, their expressions empty and pale with devastation as they watched their home burn.

From in amongst the amassed crowd, Detective Vartann materialised beside them.

"I've checked with everyone I can find, there's no sign of Sara." He puffed, cutting straight to the point. "The firemen are getting people out as they find them but they haven't been able to get to the top floors yet."

"What about the paramedics," Nick asked hurriedly, gesturing to the fleet of ambulances scattered haphazardly between the fire engines and police cars. "Maybe one of them has her?"

"No, I've checked." Vartann insisted breathlessly. "No one's seen her. I'm sorry."

As he spoke, one particularly familiar EMT broke through the crowd, hurtling towards the CSIs.

"Is Sara with you?" He asked frantically, skidding to a halt beside Warrick.

"No, it's her night off." The dark-skinned man answered sombrely, his gaze fixed on the flames practically leaping up the building.

Despite the gravity of the situation, Grissom's curiosity was peaked and he narrowed his eyes at the paramedic. He recognised the man from somewhere, but couldn't put a face to the name.

Hank, maybe?

A deafening bang echoed around them as a seventh-story window blew out with a massive explosion and what could only be described as a fireball erupted across the sky.

Once the screams died down, a stunned silence fell over the crowd as the severity of this sank in. Nothing short of a miracle from God could save the people trapped on the seventh floor upwards now.

"What floor does Sara live on?" Gil asked hoarsely.

"Four." Nick squeaked, wiping subtly at his eyes. There was still a chance for her.

Suddenly a dozen firemen poured out of the front doors and the crowd was forcibly moved back several feet by the police guards.

"What's going on?" Warrick asked, collaring a nearby fire chief.

"Flashover." He replied bluntly – a little needlessly really, since he'd already worked that out. "We can't go back in until the building's safer."

"But there are people still inside!" Greg yelped frenetically, his voice rising with fear. "Our friend is in there!"

"I can't risk the life of my men." The chief insisted, breaking free from the group and dashing off in another direction. The team released frustrated groans, each fidgeting nervously on the ash-coated ground. Warrick stared up at the inferno, his heart clenching at the thought that Sara was in there somewhere, fighting for her every breath.

"We can't just do nothing." He hissed, more to himself than anyone around him.

"You got a better suggestion?" Hank asked as he hopped nervously from one foot to the other, keeping a relatively safe distance from the group. He was not, after all, their favourite person – even if it was years since he and Sara had broken up. Although, he had to concede that recent events could have something to do with that. Still, the relevance of the address hadn't even registered until he arrived on the scene.

"Yeah, I do." Warrick muttered darkly, taking a step closer to the building.

"Warrick." Grissom warned, flashing his colleague a warning glare. "Don't you dare."

Ignoring the caution, and with a complete disregard for his own safety, the dark-skinned man pushed past the police guard and darted towards the blaze.

"Warrick!" Nick hollered, to no avail. By now, Warrick was so close to the crackling flames that he could barely hear his own thoughts. Nick moved to follow him, but Gil and Vartann caught the younger CSI by his arms, yanking him forcefully back.

"No Nick!" Grissom barked, his blue eyes trying to seek out his lost man in the mask of smoke.

Warrick was nowhere to be seen, but he briefly caught sight of the EMT disappearing into the smog behind him.

X x x

"You've got to get them out!" Brass hollered, having arrived late to the party and immediately launched into an attack on the Fire Chief.

"They went in of their own accord." The aging man in the fluorescent jacket, getting surlier by the minute, reiterated. "My men are getting people out as fast as they find them.

"If they die in there…"

"It'll be their own fault." He cut the detective off abruptly. "Don't you think we have enough to deal with without having to rescue renegade police officers?"

He stropped off towards a group of his men, leaving Jim puffing angrily in his wake.

"Any news from Catherine yet?" He breathed, shuffling back towards Grissom.

"No, she's not answering." Gil sighed.

"Neither is Sara." Greg added, dancing impatiently from one foot to the other as they waited for news. He had been praying that by some grace of God she would be out somewhere tonight, although he knew the chance was slim under the curcumstances.

The waiting was killing them. Having Sara lost in there was bad enough, but the prospect of losing two members of their team in one night was unbearable.

Nick was struggling the most. He and Warrick were partners, if one of them was in danger the other should be right behind them, backing them up. Instead, he was dancing around outside like a war-widow, waiting for news.

Suddenly a silhouette appeared in the smoke. They all moved forwards, squinting to get a better look.

"Warrick!" Nick yelled, relief flooding his features as he ducked under the police tape – erected after Warrick and Hank's kamikaze mission – and sprinted towards his friend.

The team breathed a unanimous sigh of relief to see a female figure in his arms, slumped against his chest. But only as he got closer did they realise that it was not who they were expecting to see.

"Catherine?" Grissom gasped.

The rest of the team burst forwards, reaching out to their colleagues as Warrick sank to his knees and carefully placed the unconscious blonde on the floor.

"I couldn't find Sar …" He choked. "And … I lost Hank."

An oxygen mask was placed over his mouth before he could say anymore and two paramedics flocked around Catherine's prone body.

"I found her in Sara's bed." Rick managed to gasp between deep gulps of oxygen.

"What about Sara?" Greg pleaded. "Where is she?"

All Warrick could do was shake his head in loss, sadness clouding his emerald green eyes.

"Code 10." One of the EMTs uttered nearby.

"We need to move her." Another stated.

The men watched with grave concern as Catherine's underwear-clad body was wrapped in a blanket and lifted carefully onto a stretcher.

"Warrick, you go too." Grissom insisted, pushing the breathless man towards the ambulance.

"Sara…" He murmured.

"We'll call you with any information." The supervisor was adamant. "Stay with Catherine."

Nick and Greg shared a desperate look, torn between concern for their injured colleagues and urgency for the missing friend.

As the ambulance peeled out of the parking lot with half the Graveyard team on board, another figure emerged stumbling from the building.

"Oh God." Nick gasped, lunging forwards yet again to catch Sara before Hank dropped her limp body. The EMT willingly relinquished his grip on the woman, before collapsing to the ground.

"She's not breathing." He coughed feebly.

Two of his colleagues appeared at his side, attempting to help him, but he pushed them away and gestured to Sara.

She, though wearing marginally more clothing than Catherine, appeared to have been more affected by the fire. Her skin was red raw and coated in unburned smoke.

As another ambulance appeared and flung the doors open, Nick barely waited for it to stop before striding up the ramp, where he placed her gently on the stretcher.

"Nick, let Hank go too." Grissom instructed, eyeing the struggling paramedic with concern.

"I'm not leaving her." Nick insisted insolently, gripping her hand tightly as she was hooked up to an IV and heart monitor.

"Nick!" Brass hollered, leaving no room for argument in his voice.

Reluctantly, the young man climbed out and Hank was helped up in his place.

"Where are you taking her?" Greg hollered over the roaring of activity around them.

"Desert Palms." A distant voice called back, before the doors were slammed shut and the vehicle tore through the crowd into the murky distance.

Nick rubbed a hand over his face.

Grissom stared grimly at the fading blue lights.

Greg had tears streaming down his face, although whether they were from the smoke or the fear of losing his friends was unknown.

Brass was the first to speak, his normally gruff voice oddly soft.

"What the hell happened here tonight?"

_**Six months earlier…**_

"You hauled ass from the California state line for _this_?"


	2. Never can be too sure about the girl

**Hi guys, first off thank you so much for all the reviews **

**Secondly, I'm sure you're all wondering about the fire and I promise that I will get to it eventually. First, however, we have to get through 6 months worth of drama **** This chapter doesn't really explain much, but things will start to make more sense soon. So, without further ado, enjoy! **

**x x x x**

"You hauled ass from the California state line for _this_?" Catherine's astonished voice drew Sara's attention to the door. The young brunette released a frustrated breath, placing her hands on the minimal available space left on the cluttered table.

"If you've come to mock me, don't bother." She exhaled. "I'm too busy." Cath grinned, sailing into the room.

"I heard Grissom called you in on your day off and stuck you with a solo case." She explained with a shrug. "I closed my B&E, thought you might appreciate some help."

Relaxing her shoulders a little, Sara sent her a tired smile.

"I do, thank you." She murmured.

Flashing a bright grin, Cath snapped on a pair of gloves and gestured to the evidence scattered haphazardly across the layout room table.

"Okay, so catch me up. What am I looking at?"

"You are looking at the garbage from an entire street in Henderson."

"Oh boy," The older woman whistled. "You must have really pissed him off." Sara narrowed her eyes, pointing to the far end of the table.

"Start over there." She instructed bluntly, electing not to rise to the comment.

X x x

"Adoption, seriously?" Nick exclaimed. "Wow, congrats."

"Thanks." Bobby Dawson grinned bashfully. It was no secret around the lab that he was as gay as a maypole, but he rarely discussed his private life with his colleagues – beyond his gun collection, of course.

But today he just couldn't hold it in. He simply had to tell someone. Today was the day he and his partner had been waiting for.

Today was the day that social services had deemed them fit to be parents.

"We can't wait," he gushed excitedly. "We met with a lady in Connecticut and she's agreed to us adopting her baby when it's born; so, paperwork pending, we could be bringing our baby home in as little as three months."

"Awesome." Nick patted him on the back somewhat awkwardly. "I'm sure you guys will make great parents."

"Thanks Nick." The two Texan's shared a smile, before the ballistics tech cleared his throat and gestured to the comparison microscope behind him. "Uh, right … your cartridge cases."

X x x

"So," Catherine drawled after a few minutes of silence, sending Sara a shifty glance across the table. "What were you doing in Pahrump?"

"I was at a Vineyard." Sara answered, keeping her gaze firmly fixed on her notes.

"Alone?" Cath pressed pointedly. Sara looked up, narrowing her eyes at the blonde. She didn't appreciate the prying, but she couldn't resist using the opportunity to mess with her colleague a little.

"No." She answered slowly, biting back a coy smile as Catherine tapped her fingers impatiently on the table.

"Well, are you going to tell me?" She asked at last.

"Tell you what, Catherine?" Sara asked sweetly. Cath quirked an eyebrow, exhaling through her nose.

"You know damn well what." She said pointedly. "Who's occupying your days off lately?"

"No one you know." Judging by the older woman's disgruntled snort, that was not the answer she was hoping for.

"Sidle." She chastised sternly. Sara laughed, greatly enjoying the blonde's growing agitation, when her pager began to vibrate at her hip.

"Anyone ever tell you that you're cute when you get angry." She teased absently as she checked the device, before drifting past Cat into the hallway in search of the results that had just come in.

Catherine blinked after her retreating form. She didn't know what was more surprising about that conversation; the fact that Sara had managed to evade answering her question so successfully or the fact that Sara Sidle had just called her cute.

X x x

"Cool." Warrick nodded approvingly, doling out two mugs of black sludge.

"Yeah, but …" Nick snatched one of the cups and the two men wandered over to the centre bench to sit down. "I mean, don't get me wrong I'm thrilled for them." He insisted, swallowing. "I just think babies should be raised by a mother and a father."

"I don't know." Warrick hummed distractedly, thumbing through a nearby journal. "They can't screw it up any worse than some straight parents – maybe it's time we give them a shot."

"Maybe." Nick exhaled uncertainly, electing to drop the subject for now and shifted topic – slightly. "Hey, I read somewhere the other day that one in ten people are gay."

"Really, that many huh?" Warrick agreed, barely listening to his mate anymore.

"So, by that theory-" The younger man continued obliviously. "-someone in our team is."

"Hmm."

"Rick?"

"What?"

"Well, who would you guess?" Nick asked exasperatedly.

"Guess what?"

"Who do you think out of our team is most likely to be gay?"

The question – conjectural, of course – finally captured the dark-skinned CSI's attention.

"Oh no." He held up his hands, gathering his coffee and his journal and standing up. "I wouldn't touch that question with a ten-foot pole."

"Hypothetically." Nick hollered after his friend as he departed in search of a quieter place to read.

Left alone, Nick drummed his fingers against his chin in thought.

"Well, I know who'd be my first choice." He muttered idly to himself.

X x x

When Cath finally tracked Sara down she was in a separate part of the lab, monkeying with a laptop.

"I never got my answer." She pointed out casually, strolling up to the bench.

"So you didn't." Sara agreed nonchalantly.

"Sara." The strawberry-blonde sing-songed playfully, nudging her shoulder. Sara bit back a smile, doing her best not to drop any tell-tale clues. Afterall, this woman could read people like a book.

"Sara." Grissom poked his head into the lab, diffusing the awkwardness. He paused, flicking his blue eyes to other occupant with surprise. "Catherine, what are you doing here?"

"Helping." The blonde smiled.

"Feel free to take her back." Sara said dryly, straightening up. Grissom quirked an eyebrow at the pair but quickly shrugged it off. He had bigger fish to fry today than whatever spat these two were having. Or not having, if Catherine's response was anything to go by.

"DB in North Henderson. You can both take it."

The women shared a look and Catherine beamed brightly at the prospect of having longer to press her colleague for information. Sara rolled her eyes, snapping her laptop shut and strutting back into the hall to get her things.

"Thanks Griss." She muttered sarcastically, snatching the offered case-brief on her way out.

"Thank you." Catherine chirped genuinely, practically skipping after her.

Left scratching his head in their absence, Gil frowned. He wasn't sure what had just happened but it appeared that he was at least partially to blame … maybe.


	3. Amnesty is granted

**Thank you to those reading/reviewing :)**

**Couple of points to mention here: The sculpture referenced here is from 'Everybody Loves Raymond' episode 'Marie's Sculpture'. If anyone hasn't seen it, I would recommend it!  
**

**Secondly, I am using a character from British soap opera Coronation Street. If you want an idea of what she is like, google Kirsty Soames.  
**

**Needless to say, I don't own either of these things.  
**

**x x x x**

Catherine quirked an eyebrow at it suspiciously, cocking her head to the side.

"I can't find any sign of forced entry." Sara's voice filtered into the living room. "I did, however, find a 'spare key rock' by the front door but the key was missing."

The brunette looked up, mildly concerned by her colleague's lack of response. Catherine was still staring in bemusement at the large sculpture in the corner of the room.

"Cat?" Sara called softly, trying to get her attention. "You find something?"

"Come here." Cath beckoned, her gaze remaining fixed on the object. "What does this look like to you?"

Sara stepped up to stand beside her and gave it a once-over. She pursed her lips, biting back a smile.

"Well … it's abstract." She commented with amusement. Catherine sent her a sideways glance.

"Not abstract enough."

Shaking her head, the blonde turned away from it and gave Sara her undivided attention.

"So, catch me up." She said, clearing her throat.

"Well, there's no forced entry but the hider key is missing; so whoever was here might be a friend or relative who knew it was there." The younger CSI explained. "I also found evidence that the office was searched - maybe they were looking for documents of some kind since most people don't keep their valuables in their desk.

"Yeah, well most people don't have a four-foot vagina in their living room." Cath gestured to the sculpture again, earning her an amused smile from Sara.

"Good point." She conceded, not sure what else to add to the conversation. "I'm going to go check the bedroom, I'll let you know if I find anything."

Catherine watched her walk away, before a thought struck her.

"Hey," She called. "Are you going to tell me or not?"

"Not." Sara smiled to herself, continuing to leave the room.

Cath stared at the departing figure for a moment before calling after her.

"That was a rhetorical question!"

X x x

"Man, I am starving!" Warrick grumbled, placing a hand over his growling stomach to emphasize his statement.

"Franks?" Nick suggested, never one to turn down the offer of food.

"Hell yeah!"

"I'm in!" Greg piped up eagerly from the bench, furiously trying to tug his sneakers off without bothering to untie the laces first.

"Alright." Warrick hummed. "What about you, girls?"

"No, I am going home to steal a few hours of sleep before Lindsey gets back from school." Catherine wrapped her satin scarf around her neck and flicked her long hair out. "No doubt she'll have already made plans for this afternoon."

The boys chuckled in understanding, well aware of how energetic the little Willows could be.

"What about you Sara?" Nick chirped. "You in?"

The brunette stilled, deliberating for a moment. She wanted to – it had been so long since she'd shared breakfast with the team – but …

"No, I'd better not." She mumbled at last when she realised they were still waiting for an answer. "I've got some stuff to catch up on today." She added hurriedly before anyone could inquire as to her excuse.

"Stuff huh?" Catherine asked teasingly, smirking at her across the small room. "You sure it isn't because there's a certain someone waiting for you at home?"

Sara felt her cheeks turn pink as the boys swivelled to face her with matching curious grins.

"Hey now." Nick raised his eyebrows in question. "Something you're not telling us?"

She emitted a nervous laugh, pretending to look for something in her locker in a vain attempt to avoid meeting their questioning looks.

"Thanks Catherine." She joked lightly, snatching her bag and slamming the door shut. She attempted to slide past them before they could interrogate her further, but Greg blocked her path; folding his arms defensively.

"You're holding out on me?" He asked, mock hurt dancing across his face. She smiled, gently nudging him aside.

"I still want an answer to my question." Catherine hollered after her as she finally managed to reach the door. She raised a hand in acknowledgement and slipped swiftly into the cool hallway.

She had gotten away with it – just. Next time, she would have to think on her feet a little quicker.

X x x

She turned the key in the lock, leaning her whole weight against the door until it gave way and swung open. Since leaving the lab, exhaustion had taken over her entire body, seeping into every muscle. It was a miracle she had even been able to keep her eyes open on the drive home.

She shuffled into the flat, simultaneously running a hand through her hair and tossing her keys onto the bench.

All she wanted to do was strip off her clothes, stand under a hot shower until all the tension had washed away and then fall into bed.

She turned towards the bathroom door, surprised to find someone staring back at her from the threshold.

"Oh, hey." She blinked. "I thought you'd have gone home by now."

Kirsty looked her up and down for a minute before pushing past her into the kitchen in a sullen silence.

Sara rolled her eyes, turning towards her somewhat reluctantly.

"Okay, I'm sorry." She began. "It was an emergency. I had to go in."

"Sure." Kirsty hummed, keeping her back turned as she poured herself a mug of coffee.

"You know I didn't want to, I ignored the call for as long as I could."

"Yeah, I know." The dark-skinned woman continued in an eerily blank voice. "But you still went in anyway, didn't you?"

"I had to…"

"Forget it!" She whirled around, making Sara jump. "It's obvious you'd rather be in work than spend any time with me."

"Come on, that's not fair." Sara scowled.

"Isn't it?" Kirsty countered. "It took days for me to persuade you to go to Pahrump with me, but one phone call from _him_ and you go running straight back to your precious lab."

"_He's_ my supervisor. I don't have a choice." The brunette attempted to explain rationally, carefully eyeing the steaming mug of coffee clutched in Kirsty's trembling hand. For a moment neither of them moved, when finally the woman slammed the mug down and grabbed her purse from the counter. Sara's breath hitched at the action, the instictive fear residing in her stomach slowly fading with relief.

"Yeah, sure you don't." Kirsty snapped, stropping past her towards the door.

"Kirsty, wait!" Sara called, throwing her hands out to the sides feebly.

Her only answer was the sound of the door rattling in its frame as it slammed shut.

She released a tired sigh, casting a glance at the clock on the wall.

It was eight-thirty. About six hours before Kirsty's shift started. Six hours before the apologetic phone call would come in. Kirsty would apologise for her irrational behaviour and beg for forgiveness, just like she always did. And just like always, Sara would forgive her. And it would all be forgotten.

Until the next fight.

X x x

Catherine sighed, scowling petulantly at the red traffic light.

She had been in a perfectly jovial mood upon leaving work, but with each subsequent traffic jam she got stuck in, her demeanour had dropped somewhat.

Although, the traffic wasn't entirely to blame. Since leaving work, something had been playing on her mind. Or rather, someone.

Sara had been unusually evasive today regarding her date. Not that this was a peculiar personality trait for the brunette and ordinarily it may not have struck her as odd. But her reaction to Nick's offer of breakfast had seemed a little off.

Her exact words were 'I'd better not'. That didn't imply reluctance so much as concern. But about what?

She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel in thought, pondering the situation.

Finally, the lights switched and she darted forwards, turning into the first quiet side street she came across. She would take the scenic route home – hopefully avoiding the rush hour traffic.

Casting her mind back to her young colleague, she quickly disregarded the worry. She was probably just reading too much into it. After all, Sara was a very private person and her cagey behaviour was likely just a reaction to being pressed for personal information against her will.

Catherine nodded to herself, accepting the explanation. All the same, she made a mental note not to push the young woman too much in future. Clearly Sara had felt uncomfortable in the locker room, and it wasn't fair to wind her up too much. Even if it was a lot of fun.

X x x

Sara stripped off slowly, letting the steam from the shower instantly warm her skin. She flicked her eyes to the mirror, catching sight of her body in the reflection. Despite the mist filling the small space and condensing on the cold glass, she could just make out the purple marks tainting her pale skin.

She touched one of the bruises gently, wincing at the pain it sent richocheting through her nervous system.

The earlier argument flashed back to her mind; the look on Kirsty's face as she had clutched that hot drink in her shaking hand.

She took a deep breath, reminding herself how lucky she was that all her girlfriend did was storm out.

After all, it could have ended a lot worse.


	4. There's no telling what I'm going to do

**Hi again. I should probably explain that I'm going to use extracts and scenes from episodes, but they won't be used in the proper order. I will just use them as I need them :)  
**

**Also, those astute Roald Dahl fans may notice a Matilda reference **

**x x x x**

"Did your father ever tell you that you were pretty?" Catherine flicked her eyes across the table towards her colleague.

If Sara had thought about it before she opened her mouth she would have lied, but unfortunately the word slipped out before she could recall it.

"No."

Catherine looked up sharply, narrowing her eyes. That was not the answer she had been expecting. Concentrating entirely on the other woman now, she tried again.

"Did he ever tell you that you were smart?"

"_I'm smart, you're dumb; I'm big, you're small; I'm right, you're wrong. And there's nothing you can do about it."_

The voice played in her mind like an old record; taunted by her own memories.

"No."

Catherine tried fruitlessly to catch her gaze, but the brunette was purposefully refusing to let that happen.

"He wasn't around much when you were growing up, huh?" She guessed softly at last.

Finally, Sara did look up but her expression remained defensive and unreadable.

"No, he wasn't." She agreed quietly after a long minute, dropping her eyes back into her lap.

In an unprecedented act, Catherine reached across the gap between them and placed a comforting hand on her friend's arm. Unfortunately, the gesture wasn't quite received in the way it was intended. Sara flinched violently at the contact, flashing her scared eyes up to Cath's face.

Before the older woman had a chance to question the unexpected behaviour, Sara was on her feet and already stumbling to the door, hurriedly mumbling a made-up excuse on her way.

Catherine watched her go, a mixture of concern and confusion flooding her features. She briefly considered following the girl, but by the time she made it to the hallway, there was no one in sight.

X x x

She needed space. Space to clear her head.

So, naturally, she went to the one place in the lab that she could breathe easy.

Her lab.

And that was where Warrick found her two hours later, hunkered over her laptop pretending to work.

"Hey, there you are." He hummed, sauntering in uninvited. "We've been looking for you."

She stilled her hands over the keys, slowly lifting her eyes to his face.

"We?"

"Yeah, me and Greg." He frowned. "We're waiting for you in the layout room to go over the Wilson case."

"Oh, right." She relaxed a little as she pushed herself away from the desk and gathered her things together into a pile to transport downstairs.

"I tried to page you." Warrick continued, taking half the stack of paperwork from her before she dropped it.

"Yeah, sorry. I thought it was …" she stopped herself, sending him a shy smile. "Never mind."

X x x

Once situated in the layout room, surrounded by stacks of documentation and enough evidence to fill a warehouse, the CSIs camped down with a pot of Greg's special coffee.

"So, who are you avoiding?" Rick asked after a long silence, quirking a curious eyebrow at the young woman.

"No one." She smirked to herself.

"Who's avoiding who?" Greg asked, puzzled.

"I'm not avoiding anybody." Sara reiterated. "I was just…"

Luckily for her, the feeble excuse resting on the tip of her tongue was never heard as they were interrupted by the crackling of the intercom.

"_Visitor at reception for Sara Sidle"_ The harsh voice echoed.

Pursing her lips, Sara put down the notes she was reading and straightened up.

"Excuse me." She mumbled, brushing past the boys into the hall. She didn't know who could be visiting her at work, or why; but she was grateful for the reprieve either way.

Although, as she soon realised when she set eyes on her guest from down the corridor, her relief may be short-lived.

"Your date missing you already?" Greg called after her teasingly.

Warrick poked his head into the hall, watching as Sara wandered into the reception and promptly disappeared outside with her visitor. They did, however, stay in his line of sight long enough for him to get a brief glimpse of the other person.

"Nah, it's a woman." He said, coming back into the room and resuming his work.

"Really?" Greg smirked, wiggling his eyebrows playfully; earning him a smack on the arm from his older colleague.

X x x

Since their stunted conversation earlier, Catherine had not been able to find Sara for dust, and she got the distinctive feeling that that was exactly what the elusive young brunette wanted.

She had never really given much thought to Sara's past, but she supposed it made sense. If she was raised by a single mother, it might explain her feminist approach to life. Perhaps her mother's relationship history wasn't great, which could explain Sara's hairpin-trigger temper around abusive males.

She was speculating, of course. Then again, that was all they had ever done regarding Sara's life, since she kept so much under wraps.

What she didn't yet understand was Sara's reaction to her comforting touch. After all, she had touched Sara like that before.  
Hadn't she?

Catherine had always been tactile around the boys – it came naturally to her. But around Sara she had always held back a bit. Had she really been that distant that a single contact could shock the girl so much she had to flee the room?

The only other explanation, of course, was that she was missing something.

Which is why she was currently scouring the lab for the AWOL CSI.

X x x

She flinched, pinching the bridge of her nose delicately.

Cracking her eyes open, she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. She looked like hell.

Worse still, she looked like she'd just been punched.

Behind her, the door to the women's bathroom opened and out of instinctive panic she dropped her hand in an attempt to look normal; before realising how utterly stupid that was.

Catherine took barely two steps into the bathroom and stopped dead in her tracks, her face falling in horror.

"Oh God!" She gasped, lunging towards the sink. "What the hell happened?"

Sara winced, realising how pointless any explanation would be. Her lips, hands and arms were covered in blood from her attempts to staunch her nosebleed.

"Sara, what happened?" Catherine repeated forcefully, landing at her side and gripping her blood-stained arms with surprising strength.

"I'm okay." The younger woman said instantly, although it sounded weak even to her own ears.

"You're bleeding!" Catherine pointed out, rather unnecessarily. Ignoring the meek protest from the injured party, she gently pried Sara's hand away from her face to see the damage. Blood was pouring from her nose, which was sporting a nasty bruise between her eyes.

Not allowing for any complaint, the blonde gripped Sara firmly by the shoulders and guided her onto the floor so she was leaning against the wall.

Sara sighed, resigning herself to being under her supervisor's care for the time-being. She scrunched her eyes closed against the pain. She had felt this before, but it had been so long, she'd almost forgotten how much it stung. When she re-opened them again, Catherine was crouched directly in front of her brandishing a clean, damp piece of tissue. She pressed it forcefully against her face, tipping the woman's head back.

"Hold it there." She instructed firmly. Sara did as ordered, well aware of the futility of offering any argument right now.

Leaving her on the floor, Catherine washed her hands and rinsed away the blood that had dripped into the porcelein bowl.

"What happened?" She asked again, hoping to get a little more this time.

"It just started bleeding, it's fine." Sara murmured. Cath sighed, resting her hands on her hips.

"Sara, you look like a raccoon!" She pointed out bluntly. "Someone hit you."

"No!" The younger CSI looked up sharply, causing a shot of pain to run through her head.

Feeling pity, Cath crouched down and placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her still.

"Honey, I want to help you." She tried a different tack. "But you have to tell me the truth."

"I am." Sara swallowed, carefully retracting her hand. The bleeding was easing now, although she'd bet that she still looked a wreck. "No one hit me."

"Then what happened?" Sara looked away stubbornly, refusing to answer. "Sara, come on…"

"It's fine." She insisted firmly, pushing herself to her feet despite the rush of pain to her head caused by the sudden movement.

Catherine followed suit, stalking across the small space to where Sara was leaning against the counter, staring forlornly at her reflection in the mirror.

"Did you hit your head?" Cath asked at last, getting only a quiet mumble in response. "Sara, did you hit your head on something? Or someone?" She added pointedly. "Tell me."

Eventually relenting, Sara nodded carefully.

"Do you have a headache?"

"Yeah."

"Dizzy? Nauseous?"

"Yes to both." Sara continued through gritted teeth, letting her eyes drift closed again. Beside her, she heard Catherine emit a sigh and her heart sank at the sound. Whatever it meant, she knew that she wasn't going to like it.

"Alright, I'm taking you to hospital." Cat said, confirming the brunette's fears.

"No!" She yelped, snapping her eyes open again.

"Sara, you might have concussion." Cath pointed out, attempting to grasp her arm. Unfortunately for her, Sara's reflexes were still quicker despite her injured state and she managed to duck out of the grip and escape to the door before Catherine could grab her.

"Sara!" she hollered, throwing her hands out in frustration. "Damnit!"

X x x

Keeping her head ducked, Sara moved as fast as she could without drawing undue attention to herself and quickly slid into the locker room.

Blissfully, it was empty and she shut the door behind her for extra privacy as she whipped her bloodstained shirt off.

She could breathe a sigh of relief for now. As soon as she cleaned herself up and sorted her makeup, she could make her excuses and leave early. She knew Grissom wouldn't question it. That was one of the good things about his lack of interest in other people's lives.

But her relief wouldn't last long. Sooner or later Catherine would catch up with her and one way or another she was going to have to explain why she looked like she'd been hit.

Preferably without admitting that she had.

And aside from the Willows fury, she still had the little problem of having to make amends with Kirsty.

Right now, to be honest, she didn't know what was concerning her more: what Catherine would do if she found out the truth, or what Kirsty will do when she finds out that someone else knows.


	5. I'd lie for you and that's the truth

**To my readers who celebrate Christmas, I hope you had a lovely day yesterday; and to those who don't celebrate it, I hope you had a lovely Tuesday :)**

**I was a tad too busy yesterday to update, so it's an extra long chapter today :) **** I hope you enjoy it  
**

**x x x x**

Catherine swung herself around the doorframe, scanning the room hurriedly.

"Hey, have you guys seen Sara?" She asked when it was apparent that the brunette was not hiding in here.

"No, but if you find her will you tell her that we need her back." Warrick mumbled, his gaze fixed on the docket of photographs he was currently analysing.

"Trust me, she won't be much help to you right now." Cath muttered; more to herself than the boys, but they heard her all the same.

Warrick finally lifted his head and frowned, noting the blonde's frazzled demeanour.

"What's going on?" He queried.

She emitted a frustrated huff, throwing her hands out to the side helplessly. However, before she could offer any explanation their conversation was cut short by the trilling of her cell phone.

She cast a brief glance at the small screen and relaxed just a little.

"Sara, where the hell are you?" She hissed into the phone, stepping away from the door for a little bit of privacy.

"_I'm okay."_ Sara jumped in straight away, blatantly ignoring the question. _"Have you told anyone?"_

"No, not yet." Cath frowned. "But if you don't get your butt back here…"

"_I will."_ Sara breathed, relief flooding her voice. _"Please, don't say anything. I promise I will explain everything."_

After a long silence, Catherine spoke again.

"I'm waiting."

"_Not now."_ Sara shook her head, even though Cath couldn't see her. _"Coffee? After work?"_

Catherine ran a hand through her hair, deliberating.

"Alright, but you'd better tell me everything."

"_I will."_ Sara nodded fervently again. _"Just, promise you won't say anything to the boys."_

Cath flicked her eyes back into the layout room, where Warrick and Greg were still staring at her in confusion.

"Alright. You've got an hour."

Hanging up, she turned back to the guys.

"Everything okay?" Greg asked, concern masking his boyish features.

"Yeah, just a misunderstanding." She shook her long hair out, pocketing her cell phone.

Warrick opened his mouth to question it, but she didn't give him chance. She had made a promise to Sara, after all, and the longer they had to question her on the matter the higher chance of her spilling the secret.

With a hurried excuse and a wave, she disappeared into the hall.

Greg and Warrick exchanged a bemused look, until Rick rolled his eyes.

"Women." He muttered, snatching the photos back up.

X x x

Catherine checked her watch for the tenth time since arriving, flicking her eyes frantically from the window to the door and back again.

Sara was five minutes late. Six minutes.

When she anxiety of waiting got too much to bear, she pulled out her cell phone and began to dial, just as the door opened and the sheepish brunette finally shuffled in.

"I was beginning to think you'd stood me up." Cath said, narrowing her eyes as Sara slid into the booth. She was keeping her head bowed, but Catherine could just about make out the bruise between her eyes.

When she didn't make any effort to move, Cath nudged one of the cups of coffee she'd ordered towards her colleague and waited for her to accept it before speaking again.

"Don't make me start pulling teeth." She said, raising an eyebrow. Sara looked up, puzzled by the comment. "You promised me an explanation. I'll get it one way or another." She clarified bluntly.

Sara's lips twitched into a half-smile, but the look quickly vanished as she began nervously fiddling with a stray napkin.

"Can't we just forget about it?" She asked hopefully, although she knew the chance of that happening was about as likely as the floor opening up beneath her feet.

"Forget about it?" Cath repeated incredulously, proving her assumption correct.

"Keep your voice down." Sara hushed, shooting panicked glances around them. Cath did as asked, leaning across the table.

"I thought we had a deal – I won't say a word to anybody on the condition that you tell me the truth."

"There's nothing to tell." Sara insisted, although Catherine's expression said it all.

"Honey, that bruise didn't get there all by itself." She pointed out. "So, tell me the truth or I'll tell the boys."

"Please don't do that." The obvious fear in Sara's shaking voice startled Catherine almost as much as the look in her scared, wide eyes.

"Sara, what aren't you telling me?" She begged, softening her tone. "I'm worried about you."

"You don't have to be." Sara swallowed. "I can … I'm fine. It's not what you're thinking."

"Right now, hon, I don't know what to think."

"I'm fine." Sara held her hands up, effectively ending the conversation. Reaching into her pocket, she tossed whatever change she had onto the table and stood up.

Catherine, too, was on her feet in a flash, grabbing her arm as she tried to leave.

"Sara, don't you dare." She snapped.

For the second time today, Sara flinched at the contact and wrenched her arm free.

And for the third time today, all Catherine could do was watch on helplessly as her troubled young friend disappeared.

X x x

She had been understandably worried when she'd found Sara bleeding over the bathroom sink; and now that Sara had run away from her – again – without explaining it she was downright scared.

Which was her personal justification for snooping.

She'd never had any reason to go to Sara's flat before, but she knew the woman's address had to be written down somewhere.

She could, of course, have just asked one of the boys. But that would have raised some eyebrows and she had made a promise to Sara not to tell. If there was one thing she knew about Sara Sidle, it was that she did not beg anyone for anything. And today, she had begged Catherine to keep quiet.

For that reason alone, until she knew what was going on, she would keep her word.

"Aha." She hummed, extracting Sara's personnel file from Grissom's dyslexic filing system and quickly scanning the first page for the information. Scribbling it down on a scrap of paper, she replaced the folder and slammed the filing cabinet shut. Her destination safely in her pocket, she turned to the door triumphant, only to practically walk into Grissom.

"Oh!" She gasped, clutching her chest. "Jesus Christ Gil! Don't sneak up on a person like that!"

Ignoring her shock, he merely quirked an eyebrow at her.

"What were you doing in my filing cabinet?" He inquired suspiciously.

A whole host of potential excuses flashed through Catherine's mind, but she only managed to form one into words.

"Tidying." She blurted out. "This place looks like a bomb site! Don't you ever clean up in here?"

She surreptitiously sidled around him as she ranted, taking his look of surprise as acceptance of her lie and quickly striding to the door.

"Honestly Gil, I don't know how you'd cope without me!" She finished, strutting out and instantly disappearing around the corner, leaving the confused man to ponder the strange encounter in her wake.

Down the hall, she pressed her back against the glass walls and released a deep breath.

X x x

The noise startled her awake and she flashed her eyes hurriedly towards the door.

Kirsty wasn't meant to be coming round tonight.

She stood up on shaky legs, mentally preparing herself for what was to come.

Thanks to several hours spent with an ice pack, the bruise was barely noticeable under makeup. Unless you were looking for it of course. But right now she was not wearing any and the purple marks around her eyes were bright as day. She had intended on going to bed, but evidently had only made it as far as the couch.

Reaching the front door, she took a deep breath and swung it open.

The surprised eyes staring back at her, however, were not the ones she had expected to see.

X x x

Catherine didn't really know what to expect, but she was surprised when the door swung open to reveal a startled Sara donning penguin-decorated pyjama pants and a Harvard t-shirt. Her brunette curls were tousled and she looked equally as surprised as Catherine.

"Hey," the blonde said softly, looking Sara up and down. "Cute PJs," she smiled, trying to break the ice. Sara immediately became self-conscious and folded her arms across her chest defensively.

"If you've come to yell at me, save it. I'm too tired." Her voice was weak and thick with exhaustion.

"I'm not here to fight Sara." Catherine smiled gently; well aware of the fact that she was on Sara's property, and the girl was not known for her openness when cornered. "Can I come in?"

Sara deliberated shutting the door and actually going to bed, but ultimately she knew it would be pointless. Catherine would only keep trying.

Or she would enlist help.

Stepping aside, she let the woman brush past her into the flat and shut the door – ensuring to bolt it, just in case.

Cath was surprised by Sara's apartment. It was small, but homely. Deep red walls and dark wood floors created an atmosphere of warmth and the tasteful furniture was inviting. It was a single room, apart from the bathroom. The bed in the corner was undisturbed and the creased cushions on the cream faux-leather couch indicated Sara had been napping. The TV was still on, muted, and the news presenter continued to gesture wildly to himself.

Sara had already begun making coffee. She seemed nervous, but more relaxed than she had been earlier in the day. "Can I get you anything?"

"Sure, coffee would be great thanks." Cath replied while surreptitiously investigating the apartment. There was a guitar propped up against the bookcase. She didn't know Sara played guitar.

The brunette handed her a mug and they sat down in unison; Cath on the couch and Sara on the chair. Catherine noted how she pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them – she looked more vulnerable then she had ever seen her before, almost child-like.

"Sara, about earlier…" Cath started but she was abruptly cut off.

"Can we please not talk about that?"

"I'm sorry Sara, but we have to talk about it sometime." She insisted, leaning forward. "If someone's hurt you then I want to know who."

"It's nothing like that." Sara murmured, keeping her gaze low.

"Well it sure as hell looks like that, so unless you've got a better explanation…"

"I'm sick." The lie slipped out beyond Sara's control, but it had the desired effect. Catherine stopped talking and eyed her carefully.

"What do you mean?"

Sara shifted, trying to think on her feet.

"I … I collapsed. That's how I hit my head."

For the first time, she felt herself relax a little as Cath seemed the buy the excuse. The older woman put down her mug and moved to perch on the edge of the coffee table, gripping Sara's wrists lightly.

"Are you alright?" She asked, concern swimming in her blue eyes. Sara felt a pang of guilt at putting that look on her face, but it was too late to go back now.

"Yeah, I … it happens sometimes. I keep meaning to go to the doctors, but…"

"Well, I can go with you if you like?" Catherine offered softly.

"No!" Sara gulped, shaking her head. "No, I'll be fine."

Cath shook her head in loss.

"Sara, hon, how long has this been going on?"

"I don't know." She shrugged weakly. "A few months I guess."

"Oh Sara, you should have told us. What if this had happened at a crime scene?"

"I know, I'm sorry." She murmured, the first genuine thing she had said all morning. "I thought I could handle it at first but it started to get worse."

Catherine took her hand carefully, rubbing her thumb over the back of it in small comforting circles.

"I wish you'd said something sooner."

"Yeah, me too." Sara cleared her throat.

She hated lying to her friend almost as much as she hated living with the knowledge that she'd put that sad look in those ocean blue eyes.

Then again, when she thought about it, not everything she'd said tonight was a lie. Take out the part about being ill, and the rest was pretty much accurate.


	6. There are no lies on your body

Though she knew there was no need, she still felt self-conscious. Her bruise had faded considerably throughout the day and the only mark visible beneath her makeup was a small red bump across the bridge of her nose.

Hopefully, she thought to herself, if she didn't spend too long with any one person, they wouldn't look close enough to notice.

Her second plan to get through the shift – that being, to avoid Catherine at all costs – was quickly foiled as the blonde's voice followed her down the hall.

"Sara." Her tone was calm enough not to draw undue attention, but firm enough to dissuade Sara from keeping walking.

Slowly, the young woman spun on her heels and sloped back to the office.

"You called?" She asked softly, leaning against the doorframe.

Catherine was leaning against her desk, her blue eyes narrowed. She was obviously searching for the mark on her face.

"How are you feeling today?" She asked at last.

"I'm okay." Sara nodded, subtly closing the door behind her so as to avoid anyone overhearing.

"Have you done it yet?" The supervisor continued. There was no need to elaborate; Sara knew exactly what she was talking about.

She cleared her throat nervously, fidgeting on the spot.

"I, uh, I made an appointment." She lied. "Tomorrow at 3."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, thank you." Sara shook her head vehemently. "I'll be fine."

Cath narrowed her eyes again.

"You shouldn't be driving." She pointed out. Sara smiled tightly - she had been expecting that.

"I'm okay, I promise. It'll be sorted out tomorrow."

"Good." Cath nodded, straigtening up.

Settled that the conversation was over and she was allowed to leave, Sara turned to the door but Cath's voice held her back again.

"Hey," she called, taking a step closer. "Next time something like this happens, you tell us." Her voice was sympathetic, but she was deathly serious. "When it could affect your health, we need to know."

"I know." Sara nodded solemnly. "I'm sorry."

Catherine's lips turned into a small smile as she reached out to lay a hand on Sara's arm. The brunette tensed beneath the touch but forced herself not to flinch.

"Take care tonight." Cath said at last, softening her voice. "Let Greg drive, for once."

Sara nodded in agreement and was already halfway out of the door before the words registered and she paused.

"Greg?" She inquired.

"Oh, yeah." Cath reached onto her desk and extracted a case file. "Grissom's in a meeting with the Sheriff so I'm doing assignments. You and Greg have a 419 in a Downtown residence."

"Oh. Good." Sara nodded, taking the file.

Ordinarily the prospect of letting Greg drive would have irked her somewhat, but today she was happy to go along with Catherine's orders if it kept the blonde satisfied. She was grateful, also, to the presumably deliberate pairing with the youngest CSI. He was the least likely to press her on her mysterious disappearing act yesterday.

He knew better than to push her buttons.

X x x

The water was stone cold and harsh against his delicate skin.

He blinked, resisting the urge to touch his eyes until he was suitably 'decontaminated' - just in case.

He could honestly say that the sight of several men in biohazard suits bursting into his crime scene was the scariest thing that had happened to him to date.

Sara didn't seem particularly amused by the disruption either.

Greg cast a furtive glance across the tent, catching the briefest glimpse of her on the other side.

She turned, almost catching his eye. He quickly looked away, but something made him turn back a moment later.

Sara was staring at the floor now, her dark locks painted to her pale skin by the strong water pressure.

But it wasn't her face he was trying to see anyway.

X x x

"Yeah?" Cath hummed, waiting for her visitor to creep in and close the door behind them.

"Uh hum." Greg cleared his throat, shuffling up to the desk. She flicked her eyes briefly up to see who it was before going back to her work.

"What's up, Greg?" She asked. Any other day she would enjoy the young ex-labrat's humour, but she was far too busy tonight for idle chit-chat.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked nervously, fidgeting with his long sleeves.

"Sure." Cath agreed absently, continuing to scribble on her notes.

"Well, it's kind of delicate." He began tentatively. "You see, when I was in the shower with Sara earlier, I saw something that I don't think I was supposed to see. And well, I thought I'd talk to you because … you know, you're a woman."

Catherine froze, lifting her gaze to blink at him. With slow measured movements, she capped her pen and placed it carefully on the desk, giving him her full attention.

"I'm sorry." She said at last. "I stopped listening at 'in the shower with Sara'."

The young man took a deep breath and started again, from the beginning this time.

"Well, there was this mould at our scene – rhizopus oryzae – and Doc Robbins had us dragged into this decontamination shower to, you know, stop us from dying." He slid into the seat opposite her desk and folded his hands on his lap.

"Oh, I bet she loved that." Cath snorted, leaning back in her chair.

"Yeah, well, I saw something." Greg continued, not in the slightest bit amused. "And I don't know what to do about it because if I say anything to her then she'll know I was looking – not that I was looking! I just caught a glimpse and I didn't know what to do so I pretended I didn't see it. But now I'm worried because…"

"Greg!" Cath held up her hands to stop his rambling before it got even less logical. "What did you see?"

He took another calming breath, regaining a slight sense of composure.

"Bruises." Cath raised an eyebrow, waiting for elaboration. "On her back and shoulders. As if someone's been hitting her."

Catherine pursed her lips, letting her mind work through this. "Okay." She nodded carefully. "Were they fresh?"

"Some of them." He admitted. "Some of them looked a few days old. I just didn't know how to bring it up with her. And I thought that maybe you would know what to do."

"Leave it with me." She hummed. "I'll find a way to talk to her."

He jumped eagerly to his feet, glad to have alleviated his responsibility somewhat.

"Thanks Cath." He breathed. "I just … I was worried, you know."

She smiled reassuringly.

"I'm sure there's an innocent explanation, but I'll talk to her." She promised. "Don't worry about it."

"Okay, thank you." He nodded again, slipping back into the hall. He would worry, of course. Sara was his best friend and until he knew what had happened to her it would play on his mind. But knowing that Catherine was dealing with it comforted him. The fiery blonde would drag it out of Sara, by any means necessary.

Alone in her office once again, Cath's smile vanished and she released a shaky breath.

"Damn it Sara." She sighed, shaking her head sadly. "You lied to me."


	7. Put your heart in my hands

**Hi guys, apologies for the delayed update. I've been sick over the last couple of days so haven't felt up to writing much. Hopefully this will make up for the wait, although I can't promise that it's my best work. **

**Let me know what you think x**

**x x x x**

"Uh hum." Catherine cleared her throat from the threshold, getting Sara's attention. The brunette glanced over her shoulder to seek out the source of the sound and smiled softly.

"Hey, I was just on my way to your office." She greeted. "Greg said you wanted to see me?"

Cath nodded, coming into the room and closing the door behind her, ensuring they had complete privacy. She gestured to the bench between them.

"Yes, but we can do it here. Take a seat."

Sara frowned at the formality, but obliged all the same.

Catherine moved to join her, straddling the bench so she was not only facing her colleague, but also potentially blocking her escape.

"Sara," she paused, licking her lips slowly. This wasn't going to be easy, she wanted to get her words right. "How _did_ you get that bruise?"

"I told you. I collapsed." The answer was instant, prepared.

"Yeah, I know what you told me." Cath rolled her neck, taking a deep breath. She knew it would be too easy to expect the truth right off the bat, but she could always hope.

"Cat?" Sara pressed softly when she didn't speak again.

"I had a visit from Greg this morning." The woman explained at last. "He told me what happened at your scene."

"Yeah, that was … interesting." Sara laughed nervously, her cheeks acquiring a pinkish tint.

Cath pursed her lips sombrely, not in the mood to joke.

"Sara, Greg came to see me because he was worried about something he saw." She reached out and touched her shoulder gently, causing the girl's muscles to tense beneath her fingertips. "More bruises."

"Cath." Sara shrugged her off, her defences rising like a brick wall and disguising any emotion that had been playing in her eyes.

"Sara, I know you lied to me about being sick. I know you didn't collapse yesterday." She continued firmly. "So tell me the truth."

"There's nothing to tell." Sara jumped to her feet, followed quickly by her supervisor.

"I know that you're lying. Tell me what's …"

She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes glued to something behind her young co-worker. She reached past her into the open locker and wrapped her fingers around the offending item. Sara followed her movements with a scowl, her eyes widening in panic as she realised exactly what Cath had spotted.

"Sara, are you taking diet pills?" The blonde asked incredulously.

"No!" Sara went to grab the small tub back but they disappeared out of her reach. "They're just vitamins."

Quirking a disbelieving eyebrow, Catherine took hold of her chin gently, holding her gaze..

"Honey, I was a dancer – and these are diet pills."

Wrenching free from her grip, Sara managed the snatch them away from her and hurled them to the back of the locker, slamming the door shut.

"It's not what it looks like." She mumbled, trying desperately to conceal the scared tears threatening to fall. Moving to stand directly in front of her, Cath tried fruitlessly to catch her eye.

"Listen, Sara. I don't know what's going on with you at the moment but you know the dangers associated with pills like that." She said sternly.

"It's not like it seems." Sara continued to insist weakly, but Cath wasn't biting. Shaking her head in disbelief, she took hold of Sara's wrist tightly.

"Sara, as a scientist and as your friend I am telling you, you do not need to lose weight." She paused, narrowing her eyes. "Does this have anything to do with those bruises?"

"No." Sara pulled back roughly and strode quickly to the door.

"Sar, if someone's hurting you…"

Affronted, she spun on her heels and held her hands up.

"That's not it." She swallowed hard, desperately fighting to keep her emotions in check. "Just … leave me alone."

"Sara, get back here." Cat demanded, following her into the corridor.

When the stubborn young woman failed to stop, Catherine hollered down the hall after her.

"You can't run from this forever, Sara." She warned.

"Catherine?" Grissom enquired in a confused voice. She turned, frustration evident in her expression as she came face to face with the puzzled man. "What's going on?"

She rolled her blue eyes helplessly, blowing a strand of hair out of her face.

"When I find out -" she sighed weakly, "- I'll let you know."

X x x

Greg peered into the dimmed room on his way past and skidded to a halt.

"Hey." He cleared his throat, shuffling into the lab. "Catherine's looking for you."

"I know."Came the disgruntled response, although Sara never tore her gaze from the laptop she was staring at.

He nodded, choosing his next words carefully. He had actually just passed Catherine in the hall and judging by the strawberry-blonde's stressed disposition and Sara's current mood, their talk hadn't gone so well.

"Sara … I don't mean to pry…"

"Then don't." She replied bluntly. Not one to be put off that easily, he inched closer to the bench.

"Is everything alright with you? I mean, I know something's going on; if you wanted to talk about it, you know I'm here."

She stopped what she was doing and cast a glance up at his face. She hated people pushing her to talk when she didn't want to, but she just couldn't stay angry at his innocent concern for her welfare.

"I'm fine." She assured him at last, softening her tone. "I've been kind of ill lately, but it's all sorted now. I've seen my doctor and I'm fine."

Unlike Catherine, Greg accepted the explanation with little complaint and nodded.

"Oh. Well, good." He smiled. "As long as you're alright."

To her relief, he didn't ask what had been wrong. He simply placed a tentative hand on her arm and moved to leave her alone again.

"Hey Greg." She called out as an afterthought. He turned, that familiar sparkle now returned to his chocolate brown eyes. "Thanks."

He grinned, glad to see the smallest hint of a smile back on his best friend's face, before sailing out of the room.

She relaxed her shoulders a little, although the feeling didn't last long.

"Cute." A cold voice declared with an empty laugh. Sara froze, her muscles tensing up again as the distinctive sound of Catherine's heels stepped into the room. "Now, what's the real explanation?"

"You know, it's rude to eavesdrop." Sara pointed out as coolly as she could, although the slight tremor to her voice belayed her true nerves.

"I don't care." Cath retorted calmly, sidling up to the bench and resting one hand deliberately on the notes Sara was pretending to read. "I want the truth, Sara. And I don't care how long it takes to get it."

There was no way out this time. She was well and truly cornered; she was going to have to fess up.

"Okay, you're right." She mumbled. "Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Right about what?" Cath pressed, leaning closer still. She knew damn well that Sara didn't like people invading her personal space and she was determined to make her young colleague as uncomfortable as necessary until she got the answers she wanted.

Sara took a deep breath, preparing to tell the truth. To her surprise, what came out was not entirely what she had planned.

"The pills." She swallowed, finally daring to lift her gaze. "You were right, they _were_ making me sick."

Catherine had her blue eyes narrowed, whether in suspicion or concern Sara couldn't quite tell. Then, to the brunette's surprise, she pulled the small tub of pills out of her pocket and placed them on the bench.

There was only way she could have gotten access to them, but under the circumstances it didn't seem wise to challenge the action.

"What were you thinking, Sara?" Cath asked, her voice unexpectedly soft.

"I don't know. I guess I wasn't."

"Well," She chewed on her cheek in thought. "Is there anything else I should know?"

Not trusting herself to make up another convincing lie, Sara settled for shaking her head.

"Good."

Aware that the pills were still in full view of anyone walking past, Sara reached for them but her instintive movements were stopped by a firm hand on her wrist. She instantly let it fall, nodding in understanding. Cath took the pot and slipped them back into her pocket. Presumably they would be quickly disposed of down the nearest sink.

Before she left, Catherine took hold of her by the arms and gently pulled her to her feet.

"Sara, honey, I don't know what's going on in that pretty head of yours at the moment; but you know that you can use us when you need to talk." She explained softly. "Don't lock yourself away like this, it's not healthy.

Inexplicably, Sara felt tears starting to build in her eyes and dropped her head out of shame.

"I know. I won't." She murmured bashfully, silently begging for the woman to leave.

Catherine continued to watch her for a moment longer. She wanted desperately to sit down and talk it out properly, but it was clear that her troubled young friend was struggling and she decided to take sympathy this time. She reached up, brushing Sara's hair aside in an affectionate gesture.

Sara swallowed, pleading with herself not to break down yet.

When she did finally dare a glance up, she was alone in the darkened room.

X x x

Catherine submerged one hand in her hair before shaking the long locks out.

The confiscated pills were still burning a hole on her pocket. She had nearly gotten rid of them, but something had stopped her. Something about Sara's immediacy in responding had unsettled her. She had been trying for days to get a straight answer out of the girl, and this time she had given it up straight away. Something still didn't seem right.

Bruises, a black eye, diet pills …

She couldn't help returning to her initial concern that someone else was involved in this. That the reason Sara wasn't giving up the truth was fear – fear of what might happen if she did. She was well and truly under someone's thumb.

So she made up her mind. After shift, she would catch Sara. She would take her out for breakfast somewhere far away from here and make her talk.

Until then, fed up of trying and failing to concentrate on her work, she had decided to go for a walk and clear her head.

She got as far as the locker room, only to find the door still closed. This wasn't necessarily unusual if someone was changing, but it was mid-shift and to the best of her knowledge no one had been to a scene that would warrant a change of clothes tonight.

Nudging the door open, she peered around the edge and spotted the only occupant in the room.

She was half right at least. Sara wasn't changing, but she wasn't fully dressed either.

With her shirt discarded on the bench, she appeared to be trying to tend to her bruises without the use of a mirror.

Cath opened her mouth to alert her colleague to her presence and perhaps offer some assistance, but the words died on her lips. Silently, she crept inside and walked around the bench, her eyes glued to the fresh scars littering the younger woman's back.

One in particular, caught her attention. Around her left arm there were five distinctive marks adorning the pale skin. And unlike the ones on her back, there was no way in Hell this one got there by accident; someone had grabbed Sara with enough force to leave a clear handprint.

Unaware she was even doing it, Cat reached out and let her hands barely graze the injury.

Sara practically jumped out of her skin, turning around with a horror-struck expression and coming face to face with an identical look on Catherine's face. She tried in vain to cover herself, but it was too little too late. Catherine had already seen more than she needed to.

When the older woman finally found her voice, it was filled with an odd mix of sadness and anger as she desperately searched Sara's face for any hope that what she was seeing wasn't real.

"I knew it."


	8. You took the words right out of my mouth

**Happy New Year Everyone!**

**bonne annee; felice anno nuovo; feliz ano nuevo; chuc mung nam moi; ein gluckliches neues jahr; gott nytt ar; gelukkig nieuwjaar; akemashite omedetou gozaimasu; szczesliwego nowego roku**

**Apologies if I missed any of you, but I hope you all have a good night!  
**

**x x x x**

Without giving her supervisor time to formulate a question Sara slid out from her trapped position, snatching her shirt off the bench and darting into the shower block.

Only afterwards did she realise that it was a bad idea, since now she was cornered. And sure enough, Catherine appeared in the doorway two steps behind her.

"Who is he?" The blonde asked, unusually calm but for a small quake to her voice.

"It's not what it looks like." Sara replied instantly, keeping her back turned as she attempted to redress as hurriedly as possible despite her trembling hands and sore muscles.

"I asked you a question Sara." Catherine said firmly, pushing herself off the doorframe and walking slowly across the room, her heels echoing on the tiled floor. "Who is he?"

"No one."

"Sara, give me a name." Cath pressed, whirling around so she was facing the panicked young woman.

Sara – tough, fearless Sara – was on the verge of tears. Her whole body was shaking and her skin was deathly white. Looking at her now, Catherine had never wanted so desperately to hold her and comfort her.

But she couldn't go soft on her yet. There would be no backing down this time, not until she got a straight answer.

X x x

"Hey," Nick greeted, wandering into the room with a puzzled frown. "What the hell's going on around here?"

"What do you mean?" Greg blinked at him, instinctively glancing around the room even though he knew they were alone.

Nick walked over and rested his hands on the bench.

"I'm talking about the girls, man. Sara's done another David Copperfield and Catherine's stalking around the place like a tiger that's lost her cub."

"David Copperfield?" Greg queried with unabashed amusement, cocking an eyebrow.

"Disappearing act." Nick explained. "What's wrong with them?"

Finally understanding his point, Greg dropped his gaze back to his work.

"Nothing, everything's fine." He shrugged, trying and failing miserably to sound blasé.

Nick narrowed his eyes in suspicion, not buying the act for a minute.

"You know something don't you?" The Texan challenged. Not trusting himself to lie to his friend, Greg simply shrugged again. Fed up of playing this game, Nick rolled his eyes. "Come on G, what's going on?"

This was precisely the reason Greg didn't like keeping people's secrets. He wasn't very good at it. Even as a kid his mom could always tell when he'd done something he shouldn't have.

Flicking his eyes briefly up to his co-worker's face, he felt himself breaking.

"Alright," he relented at last. "Sara's been sick lately, but she's better now."

"Sick?" Nick repeated, his brow furrowing in concern. "Sick how? What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know, I didn't ask!" Greg threw his hands up. "The point is, she's alright now and I don't think she wants a lot of attention about it."

Nick nodded slowly, acccepting the explanation.

"Yeah, okay." He agreed. "But, what about Catherine?"

"I don't know." Greg sighed, relaxing a little now that the heat was off him. "She was trying to get Sara to tell her what was wrong; maybe she hasn't found her yet."

"Yeah, well Sara does have that Houdini thing down to a talent." Nick chuckled. "I'll bet she's hiding in one of the first floor labs."

"Yeah," Greg agreed jovially, glad the atmosphere had lifted somewhat. "Just wait until Cath finally does catch up with her."

X x x

Every attempt by Sara to move out of reach was scuppered, until she found herself backed against the wall. Catherine never loosened her grip on the woman's arms, holding her gaze ardently.

"Sara, tell me!"

"You don't understand." Sara continued to make concerted efforts to free herself, but they were all in vain.

"Don't I?" Cath challenged with a raised eyebrow. "Honey, I've been where you are and I know how scared you must be right now." She pointed out earnestly. "I can help, but you have to talk to me. Sar, darling, you have to trust me."

Sara looked away, refusing to let Catherine see the tears that were finally spilling down her pale cheeks.

Cath dropped her head sadly, never releasing her grip on the girl. Sara's shirt still hung open, revealing her toned stomach that quivered with every breath.

"I can take this further if I need to." She mumbled at last. "I don't want to have to do that, but I will."

"What do you mean?" Sara asked cautiously, shifting her gaze back up.

"I can tell Grissom, Brass…Ecklie."

It wasn't exactly an idle threat, she would tell them if she had to; but she hoped it would be enough to push Sara into opening up. And it seemed to do the trick; Sara's face fell with fear.

"You wouldn't." She whispered in a frightened voice.

"I don't want to." Cath reiterated softly. "But I will."

"No one else can know!" Sara yelped unexpectedly, startling them both.

"No one else needs to." Catherine assured her, taken aback by the sudden outburst but recovering quickly. "But you have to tell me what's going on."

Finally relaxing her grip a little, she tried to seek out Sara's eyes but the brunette had resumed her stance of staring at the floor. Eventually she wriggled free and stalked across the room to rest her head against the far wall.

Deciding to give her a minute to calm herself, Cath took a couple of steps closer but maintained a fair distance between them.

"Sara, I know men like this. I know what they're capable of." She said at last, her voice low and huskier than before.

To her surprise, Sara emitted bitter laugh and shook her head.

"You don't get it."

Catherine stared at her tensing back, confusion masking her features. She was clearly missing something here, but unless Sara told her what it was…

Slowly, as she reviewed what she'd just said, a realisation began to form in her mind. All of a sudden it was so obvious; it was right there in front of her but she'd been too blind to see it - diet pills, curfews after work, persistent phonecalls mid-shift ... and the slender bruises on her arm which were punctuated by five sharp nail marks.

Catherine took a careful step closer, clearing her throat softly.

"It's not a man, is it?"


	9. You can keep your mouth shut

**AN: ArtemisFire - I love you! Any particular favourite song? :)**

**x x x x**

When Sara didn't move, Catherine stepped closer and placed a tentative hand on the small of her back.

"Is that why you wouldn't tell me?"

"What do you think?" Sara asked rhetorically, trying to move away as she wiped surrupticiously at her eyes. Cath, however, looped a strong arm around her slender waist to hold her in place.

"Hey, look at me." She instructed softly, waiting until Sara nervously complied. "Do you really think I'm that shallow?"

She didn't answer and Cath decided that she didn't really want to hear the response anyway.

"Sara, hon, I don't care who you date as long as you're happy." She insisted, touching a fading bruise on her collar bone and stroking it with the pad of her thumb. "But I do care when they're doing this to you."

Sara stepped out of her grip and pressed her back against the wall behind her, finally taking the time to re-dress herself properly.

"Who is she?" Catherine asked at last, clearing her throat. "Give me a name."

"Kirsty Soames." Sara mumbled, toying with the hem of her shirt.

Cath was almost surprised that she gave it up so easily this time, but now that the truth was out there was little need to be evasive anymore. She furrowed her brow in thought.

"I know that name." The muttered comment was said to herself rather than Sara, but the brunette nodded anyway.

"Yeah." She pursed her lips. "She's a patrol officer."

"Here? She works at the station?" For some reason that thought unsettled Catherine even more. Until now she'd been working under the impression that Sara was at least safe from her abuser at the lab.

"Yeah." Sara straightened up. "Which is why no one else can know."

"Sara, honey." Catherine shook her head, softening her voice. "I'm not going to stand back and let this carry on. I can't."

"This is none of your business!" Sara snapped, launching herself off the wall and brushing past her colleague.

"I am your supervisor, that makes it my business!" Catherine didn't quite manage to catch her; but the harsh tone of her voice - leaving no room for argument - was enough to stop the girl in her tracks. Her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides, but she remained in place until Cath could walk back over to her.

"Look, we can do this discreetly. I can make sure no one will find out that doesn't need to."

"There's nothing to find out Catherine." Sara said, spinning on her heel to face her. Any previous evidence of tears had vanished, replaced by a blank mask perfected over years of keeping her emotions locked inside. "Nothing's going to happen."

"You have to end it …"

"No." Sara cut her off adamantly, shaking her head. "You don't understand … Kirsty, she's had a rough life and sometimes she gets angry. But she's getting help - she's seeing a counsellor."

"Oh Sara," The older woman shook her head, emitting a dry laugh. "Counselling is not going to fix this, honey. If she thinks it's acceptable to hurt you like this, to hit you, then she's never going to change."

"She can…"

"Trust me, people don't change."

Apart from the slight paling of her cheeks, Sara showed no sign of having heard blonde's words as she backed towards the door.

"You're wrong." She insisted, half-walking half-falling into the locker room.

"Sara!" Cath barked as the woman disappeared from view; but by the time she swung herself around the doorframe, the room was empty.

X x x

"There you are."

The hollered comment caused her to skid to a halt halfway down the hall and turn on her heel with an impatient raised eyebrow.

"What?" She barked, too riled for politeness.

Grissom blinked, taken aback by the bluntness as he shuffled towards her.

"I've been looking for you." He frowned. "What's going on?"

Catherine ran a stressed hand through her hair.

"Nothing, forget it." She shrugged at last. "What did you want?"

Before he even began to answer, her attention had wandered – to the far end of the corridor to be precise. It was only a glimpse, but she could have sworn she saw a flash of chestnut hair disappearing in the other direction.

"Yeah, great. I've got to go." She mumbled vaguely, dancing around her boss and heading after the figure.

"Catherine?" Grissom called, attempting to grab her arm as she slipped past him.

"I'll talk to you later!" She waved in his general direction, not sticking around long enough for him to contest the behaviour.

He watched her go with a growing frustration at his team's lack of discipline lately.

"Women." A voice tutted nearby. He looked up, almost not surprised to find Hodges lingering in the doorway of a lab. "Never there when you need to talk to them, but when you're trying to work you can't get them to shut up."

Grissom, having limited experience of this phenomenon and very little desire to converse with the lab rat, offered a silent nod and walked away, leaving David hanging.

X x x

"So this is where you're hiding."

Sara froze, her hands momentarily stilling over the keyboard. She turned slowly towards the door, uncertainty written across her face.

"Did you tell him?" She asked nervously.

"Tell who?"

"Grissom." Sara explained. "I saw you talking to him in the hall."

Cath cleared her throat, pushing herself off the doorframe and walking over.

"No, I didn't tell him." She assured the brunette. "I should have."

"I told you, there's nothing to tell." Sara flicked her eyes back to the screen but Catherine wasn't done yet. She rested one hand on the table, using the other to lift Sara's head towards her.

"Sara, listen to me." She said firmly. "As admirable as it is to try, you cannot change a person."

"You're…"

"No." Cath interrupted, determined to get her say this time. "You can't fix her Sara. And you can't stay with her. It'll only get worse."

"You don't know that." Sara dropped her gaze.

"Yes, I do." She insisted. "She will get more violent and less careful until eventually everyone will know what's going on. Or she'll kill you, whichever happens first."

Perhaps she was being harsh, but right now it was the only way she could think of to snap Sara out of her hopeful delusions.

The brunette lifted her gaze again, opening her mouth to speak, when Grissom's puzzled voice interrupted them.

"What is going on around here?" He asked from the doorway, noting with suspicion Cath's close proximity to Sara and in particular the arm draped around the brunette's shoulders. He may not be the most observant person in the world when it came to other people, but he knew that Sara was not especially tactile.

Sara looked up at Catherine pleadingly.

"Everything's fine." Cath said slowly, turning her attention to Grissom. "Sara just needed my help with something."

"Oh." He nodded, not in the slightest bit convinced. "Well, I need you in the garage"

"Okay, I'll be right there." She hummed, waiting until the sound of his shuffling footsteps had faded before leaning down to Sara again. Unexpectedly, she pressed a kiss to the girl's temple and squeezed her shoulder gently. "This isn't over."

X x x

To her surprise – and utmost relief – when Catherine sloped into her office at the end of shift Sara was already there, waiting for her.

"Oh." The blonde squeaked, startling the young brunette, who was busy surveying the photos scattered on the cluttered desk. She turned, replacing the frame with a sheepish smile. It contained a recent picture of Lindsey in her new school uniform.

"She's grown up so much." She commented softly.

"Yeah, she has." Cath agreed with a small smile, closing the door and walking slowly across the office to join her colleague. "She hasn't seen you in a while, I'll bet she misses you."

"I miss her too." Sara hummed absently, picking up a different frame. This one contained a photo of the whole team in Franks. It had been taken by Frank himself at the end of a big trial. Sara was between the boys – Warrick had one arm draped around her shoulders and she had her head tipped against Greg's. She looked genuinely happy. Right now, she could barely remember how that felt.

"Did you want to see me?" Cath cleared her throat softly, snapping her back to the present.

"Yeah, sorry." Sara nodded, straightening up. "I was wondering if you wanted to go for coffee … or something." She mumbled shyly. "I guess I owe you a proper explanation."

"Yes, you do." Catherine agreed, her calm voice belayed by her frantic, concerned eyes. She flicked her gaze briefly to Sara's phone, sat on the edge of her desk. "Does Kirsty know you're going to be late?" She asked, making it clear with her voice that the question was more to make a point than as a general inquiry.

"Yeah, I told her I've got another case." Sara nodded.

"Good." Cath hummed. "We've got some time then."

Sara took a deep breath. She knew that she wasn't going to like what was to come, but she needed Catherine to understand the situation fully before they could come to an agreement.

"Here." Cath suddenly produced a set of keys from somewhere. "Go wait in my car; I'll be out in a few minutes."

She hesitantly accepted the keys, frowning at them.

"What are you going to do?" She asked nervously. Not that she didn't trust Catherine, but she couldn't risk her telling anyone else. Understanding her concern, Cath placed a hand briefly on her arm.

"I just need to call Nancy and check in with Linds." She explained softly.

"Oh, okay." Relief flooded Sara's face and she smiled gratefully. Taking her jacket off the back of the chair, she sloped into the deserted corridor and shut the door behind her to give Cat some privacy.

Catherine stared at the closed door for a long moment before a cell phone vibrating on the edge of the desk snapped her out of her reverie. Out of instinctive habit, she snatched it up and clicked to open the text message before it registered that her own cell was still clipped to her belt.

She glanced down at her hand, taking a deep breath as Kirsty's name blinked up at her from the small screen.

_Hope you don't have to work too late. See you later x_

Short and sweet.

Her finger hovered over the touch-screen. She chewed on her lower lip, fighting an internal battle. A part of her felt guilty for prying, even if it was accidental, but the overprotective mother in her felt the urge to check the previous messages.

Sara was ready to tell her everything. She should hear her side of it and trust that it was the truth.

But what guarantee did she have?

Sending a silent apology to her friend, she scrolled back through the past texts.

Taken on face value, you could be forgiven for thinking that Kirsty was two different people, for they ranged from sweet love messages to angry threats.

_Tell anyone what happened and I'll make sure they know everything_

_If you're not home in the next five minutes, don't bother coming home at all_

One, in particular, caused her breath to hitch. Out of context, it didn't really mean a lot but the implication was as clear as the bruises littering Sara's delicate bones.

_Don't say a word. _


	10. Once upon a time was a backbeat

**Hi guys, massive thank you to everyone reading and especially to those reviewing :) **

**I can't decide whether I'm happy with this chapter or not, so I'll let you guys decide for yourselves :)**

**x x x x**

"Stop fidgeting." Catherine said light-heartedly as she placed two mugs of coffee on the table and slipped into the booth opposite her companion. "I'm not going to do anything to you."

"Sorry." Sara dropped her gaze bashfully, making a concerted effort to sit still.

Cath studied her from across the table. As well as the nervous shuffling, she had been flicking her eyes around the room anxiously ever since they arrived. She looked terrified.

"Oh," The blonde suddenly remembered, producing Sara's cell phone and sliding it across the table. "You left this on my desk."

"Oh, thanks." Sara mumbled, reaching out a hand to snatch it back. To Cath's relief she pocketed it without checking the messages.

"So," Catherine hummed after a long silence followed. "Talk."

Sara looked up, her dark eyes wide and fretful.

"I, uh…" she paused, swallowing hard. She had been so worried about what she was going to say, she hadn't even thought about how she would actually start it.

Sensing how much she was struggling, Cath took pity on her and decided a question-answer method might be easier on her young friend.

"How long have you been together?"

"A few months." Sara answered instantly, nodding grateful at the switch in tactics.

"And, how long has she been hitting you?"

The question was unexpectedly blunt, but Sara answered it as naturally as if Cath had just asked what time it was.

"The first time was during the Michaels case."

Catherine frowned, trying to place the date. Off the top of her head, it was about three months ago. The thought turned her stomach but she swallowed her disgust to keep her composure. Sara was on-edge enough as it was, any sudden movements might just be enough to make her bolt.

"What happened?" She asked calmly.

"Kirsty made a mistake with the outer cordon. I told her to change it. I didn't really think anything of it, but that night she started an argument about it." Sara explained, absently tearing a napkin into neat squares as she spoke. "I hadn't even realised it was a big deal."

"We tell cops to change the cordons all the time." Cath scowled. "It's _not_ a big deal."

"She said I'd humiliated her in front of her colleagues." Sara swallowed. "Then she just started hitting me."

"Sara," Catherine leant across the table, taking the girl's hands firmly in her own to still her nervous actions. "Why didn't you just walk away then?"

"I did." She blinked back tears. "But, she talked me round. She promised that it would never happen again."

"But it did happen again." Cath pointed out gently. "She hit you at work – that bruise?"

Sara nodded miserably.

"What happened there?"

"She, uh, she found out that I was still taking the pill." Sara wiped subtly at her eyes, unconsciously touching the bridge of her nose where the faded contusion still lay under her make-up. "She accused me of cheating on her."

"That's ridiculous."

"That's the truth." Sara shrugged. "It doesn't take much to set her off, but once she sees red there's nothing you can say to calm her down."

"Yeah, I know the type." Catherine sighed, unconsciously reaching up to stroke her own neck.

"Everything was fine at first." Sara continued obliviously. "And then things started to change; she just loses her temper. She can't help it."

"Sar, you have to get out."

"I can't." She insisted tearfully. "She's getting help – she just needs time."

Catherine looked away, shaking her head in loss. She wanted desperately to help Sara, but it was like the woman was under some kind of spell.

"Sara, honey, why are you doing this?" She begged. "Why can't you see what she's doing?"

"Because things were great once. I want to get back to that." The whimpered answer made Cath's chest constrict and she smiled sadly.

"Baby, that's sweet. But that's not how relationships work."

Despite attempts to keep her tone soft, Sara's reaction was more animated than she'd anticipated. She was on her feet before Cath could stop her.

"Catherine, I didn't ask you here so you could tell me to end it." She said firmly, sliding out of the seat. "I just wanted to clear the air. So, now you know."

"Sara, wait." Cath stumbled out of the booth after her, cursing to herself as she groped in her pocket for some change and grabbed her jacket off the seat.

Sara was already halfway across the parking lot by the time Catherine finally made it through the swinging glass doors.

"Sara!" She called out desperately. "You can't just leave!"

"Watch me." Sara retorted coolly. Throwing her hands out in frustration, Cath tried a final shot.

"You don't have your car!"

This time Sara did stop, her hands balling into fists at her side. Releasing a grateful breath, Catherine jogged to catch her up.

"Listen, I don't want to tell you what to do." She began.

"Then don't."

"But," she continued, ignoring the comment. "I'm worried about you. I can't just stand back and do nothing while she hurts you like this. You have to understand that?"

It was meant as a statement, but came out as more of a hopeful question. Surely the girl must know she was being so persistent?

Sara hugged her jacket tighter around herself against the cool breeze, shifting her gaze across the deserted parking lot to avoid Cath's piercing blue eyes.

"You can't make me end it." She murmured at last.

"No, of course not." Catherine agreed desolately. "Just, alright." She took a deep breath, racking her brains for a compromise. "Okay, just promise me one thing … whenever she hurts you, I want you to tell me." She begged. "I won't tell anyone, I promise. I just need to know that you're alright."

Sara chewed on her lower lip, contemplating the proposition. Eventually she offered a small nod, causing relief to flood Cath's anxious face.

"Okay, good." The blonde nodded eagerly, reaching out to pull the reluctant brunette into a tight hug. Tentatively, Sara lifted her arms to return to embrace.

X x x

She killed the engine and folded her hands in her lap, waiting for Sara to make the first move this time.

"Thank you." The younger CSI murmured at last, reaching for the door handle. Cath stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"Sara, wait." She pursed her lips. "Just, think about what I said, yeah?"

Sara nodded solemnly, although the doubt in her eyes said more than her words. "I will, I promise."

Cath smiled, grateful for being humoured if nothing else, and cast a glance up at Sara's apartment. The light was on.

"Are you going to be alright?"

Sara followed her line of sight and swallowed hard.

"I'll be fine." She nodded, offering a weak smile. "I can't hide down here forever."

Cath gripped her hand tightly, running a thumb over the inside of her wrist.

"Be careful." She insisted. "Text me later."

X x x

"Kirsty?" She called, peering into the apartment. No answer came, but she could smell the other woman's perfume in the flat she knew she was here somewhere. Chanel. Sara had never liked it, herself.

Closing the door behind her, she tossed her keys onto the counter and scanned the small space.

"Hey." The cool voice in her ear startled her and she jumped around, gripping the counter for balance. Kirsty stepped closer, quirking an eyebrow at her. "Who was that?"

Sara flicked her eyes subconsciously towards the window.

"Catherine, she gave me a ride home."

"Why?"

"My car was making a strange noise, I didn't want to risk driving it across town." She lied quickly. "I'll get Steph to take a look at it later."

"No." Kirsty barked. "Not Steph."

Sara opened her mouth to contest it – Steph had been one of her best friends for years and was a great mechanic, but she thought better of it. It didn't really matter anyway since her car was fine.

"Alright, I'll find someone else."

"Good." For the first time in their exchange, Kirsty smiled, wrapping her arms around Sara to press a kiss to her lips. "Why don't you take a shower and I'll make you something to eat?"

"Okay." Sara agreed quietly, sliding out of her grip and into the bathroom.

X x x

The mirror was steamed up, shielding her reflection from her sight; not that she minded. She had never liked her body. Too many scars, too many bad memories.

Too tired to care about what she was wearing, she grabbed the first things within her reach and threw them on, covering as much of her skin as she could.

After all, she wasn't the only one who didn't like to see the marks on her body.

She shuffled back into the kitchen, dragging her fingers through her damp, tangled hair.

"Hey." She greeted weakly, dropping onto the couch before she realised that Kirsty hadn't joined her and there was no sign of the promised food. "Kirsty, you okay?"

The dark-skinned woman was stood at the window, her back to the room.

"Why did you have to stay late?" She asked coolly.

"We got a late case." Sara lied, swallowing. She recognised the tone of Kirsty's voice; it meant she was pissed about something.

"Right." She scoffed. "And, you were working with Catherine."

"Yeah." Sara nodded uncertainly, standing up on shaky legs. "Kirsty, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" The cop repeated, whirling around to face her. To Sara's horror, she produced her cell phone and began to read. "_Take care today, remember what I said_"

Sara gulped. She didn't need to ask who that was from and the guilty look on her face must have said it all.

"What did she say?" Kirsty pressed, stepping closer.

"It's nothing." Sara shrugged. "I wasn't feeling well earlier and she told me to take it easy – that's why she brought me home. I just didn't want to worry you."

For a moment she thought the excuse had worked, when her green eyes flashed with rage.

"Liar!"

The movement happened so fast Sara barely had time to react; she felt her knees buckle and she hit the floor with a dull thud. She felt a familiar warmth against her forehead and touched it lightly, staring at the blood staining her fingertips. Despite the sudden, unexpected pain whenever she moved her head, she looked from her hand to the corner of the coffee table and slowly lifted her gaze.

Kirsty was stood over her, chest heaving with anger. Silently, she stepped over Sara's body and stalked into the bathroom; letting the door slam, leaving a cold silence in her wake.


	11. Nowhere to hide no leaves on the trees

Tears stung at her eyes as she picked herself up on trembling legs.

Behind the closed bathroom door she heard running water and released the breath she hadn't even realised she was holding. With any luck, Kirsty would go straight to bed after her shower and leave Sara alone for the rest of the morning.

Perching on the edge of the couch, she ran a shaky hand through her hair and accidently grazed the fresh injury with her fingertips. She winced, sucking in a breath to prevent herself from yelping in pain.

She was going to have to do something about that; as soon as she could get into the bathroom, of course.

Until then, she would just stay quiet. Quiet and still.

Just like she had done when she was a child.

X x x

Taking a deep breath, she lifted her hand to rap on the door; but her nerves didn't hold out and she dropped it to her side again. This was ridiculous. She was going to have to face her at some point.

Lifting her hand again, she managed a feeble knock this time. It was answered with the usual grunt of approval and she nudged it open, creeping inside.

Catherine lifted her gaze to see who her visitor was and froze, her blue eyes widening in shock.

"What happened?" She asked, on her feet and moving across the office before Sara could even close the door behind her.

"I'm okay." Sara said instinctively, leaning away from Cath's outstretched hand. "It's fine.

Cat let her hand fall back to her side, but her eyes continued to frantically dance across Sara's face in search of any other injuries.

"What did she hit you with?" She asked at last.

"She didn't, it's from the coffee table." Sara mumbled, sinking onto the couch and letting her head fall back against the cushions desolately. "I need your help."

"You're leaving her?" Cath asked hopefully, but Sara shook her head before her supervisor could get any ideas.

"No, I need you to help me cover it up." She explained, sitting forward. "I tried, but …" she gestured weakly to her forehead, an act which said enough. The swelling had gone down somewhat, but there was a very obvious gash across the left side of her temple.

Catherine blinked at her in stunned silence for a moment before throwing her hands up in resignation. Snatching her purse from under the desk, she dragged a chair closer to the couch and sat down in front of her colleague.

"Alright, come here." She tipped Sara's head up and - extracting a compact from the bag - began to dab foundation around the injury. "Sar, you have to stop this."

"Don't blame me. This is your fault." Sara replied bluntly, causing Catherine to still in her movements and send her a baffled look.

"Me? What did I do?"

"That text message you sent me?" Sara quirked an eyebrow, although quickly decided that the action hurt her head too much.

Cath's expression contorted into a look of horror, one hand flying to her mouth as she realised what she'd done.

"Oh, God." She dragged a hand through her strawberry-blonde hair, cursing herself for her own stupidity. "Sara, babe, I'm sorry." She swallowed hard. "I didn't think she would go through your messages."

"Neither did I." Sara shrugged weakly. "It's okay; it's not your fault."

"I'll have to be more careful what I send you in future." Cath sighed, returning to her task of carefully covering the injury.

Sara had dropped her gaze into her lap, where her hands lay folded to prevent them from fidgeting. She felt like she should say something else, but she just couldn't find the words.

Catherine pursed her lips, debating whether to ask the question that was burning on the tip of her tongue.

"Sara," she hummed at last. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want-" she began softly, chewing it over in her mind before voicing her thoughts "-but, why didn't you tell us that you date women?"

Sara looked up, surprise flashing across her expression at the query. She licked her lips slowly, contemplating her answer.

"I don't know, it's not something that's easy to slip into conversation." She shrugged at last.

"So, it wasn't because of us?" Catherine pressed, deciding that she'd done everything she could to cover the wound and tossing her compact onto the couch. "We didn't do anything, or say anything to make you feel … uncomfortable?"

Sara's lips turned into a half-smile.

"Like what?" She asked coyly.

Sensing that she was being played, Cath smacked her lightly on the knee.

"You know what I mean." She chuckled softly. "I'd just hate to think that you feel like you can't talk to us about things like this. I love you and I don't care who you date…unless they hurt you."

"It's nothing to do with you guys." Sara assured her, straightening up a little. "I guess it's just easier to be out to strangers. Most of them don't care, and the ones that do; well, you never see them again so it doesn't really matter." She felt herself getting choked up at the shift in tone of the conversation and swallowed her unshed tears back down. "It's the people closest to you that are most likely to judge; to change their opinion of you. Strangers have never known you any other way but family and friends think they know you. When you suddenly tell them something new … they don't always like it."

"You sound like you're talking from experience." Cath frowned, softening her voice.

Sara opened her mouth to answer, although the interruption that followed came as a relief to her as she didn't actually have a response to the question.

Greg poked his head inside, frowning in bemusement at the empty chair behind the desk before shifting his gaze to the sofa.

"Oh." He blinked. "Hi."

"What's up Greg?" Catherine asked, giving Sara a quick once over before standing up. The brunette appeared to be trying and failing to sink into the sofa cushions.

"Grissom sent me; he's ready to do assignments." The young man explained, his gaze bouncing suspiciously between the two women. "Is everything alright?"

The question was actually directed at Sara but Catherine jumped in first, making it exponentially clear with the tone of her voice that the matter was to be dropped.

"Everything's fine. Tell Grissom to start without us, we'll be there in a minute."

He nodded, casting a final concerned glance in his best friend's direction before slipping back out again.

Sara stood up, tentatively touching her forehead and wincing as she brushed the mark.

"Thank you." She cleared her throat nervously. The women shared a look, their last conversation still hanging between them like a black cloud.

Without another word, Sara walked to the door and disappeared into the hallway.

X x x

"Hey, is everything alright?" Warrick asked carefully.

"Fine, why?" Catherine retorted coolly, although she suspected that she knew where he was going with this.

"I don't know, you just seem distracted." He cleared his throat, standing up and picking his way across the cluttered floor towards her. "Greg said you and Sara seemed to be having a pretty intense conversation when he walked in earlier."

"Greg needs to keep his opinions to himself." She replied quickly, instantly regretting it as she caught the brief look of shock that crossed her companion's features. Not that it deterred him any.

"Is there something going on between you two?" He pressed, daring a step closer.

With a resigned sigh, she took off her orange goggles and stood up.

"I'm fine, Sara's fine." She held her hands out. "We were just having a little girl-talk before shift. Is that so bad?"

"No." He chuckled, relief seeping into his green eyes. "Hell, as long as you two are getting on everything's good in the world."

She sent him a sarcastic smile, well aware that he was only joking. Sure, she and Sara had had their share of run-ins, but they were few and far between; and on the whole they had a good working relationship.

Happy that the issue was settled, Warrick went back to his work. Catherine, however, wasn't quite done.

"Hey," she called, shifting her weight nervously. "Has Sara ever said anything to you about her dates?"

"Not since I told you and Nick about Hank." He answered naturally before pausing. "Why? Something going on that I don't know about?"

"No, nothing like that." She lied. "I was just curious."

He frowned at her terrible attempt to shrug it off, but let it drop for the time being as a distinctive voice outside signalled the arrival of the ever-late assistant coroner.

X x x

"I know something's going on." Greg persisted, stalking her across the vacant lot.

"I told you, nothing's going on." Sara resisted the urge to snap at him; aware that his persistence came from concern, however annoying it might be. "I slipped, I hit my head. It's no big deal."

"Hey G, let it drop." Nick instructed, almost as fed up as Sara of hearing him whine after listening to it for the entire drive here. "She said she's fine."

"Yeah, but…"

"No buts." The Texan cut him off abruptly. "Go check around the back, will ya?"

With a disgruntled scowl, Greg sloped around the back of the destitute property.

Finally getting her alone, Nick put down his metal case and wandered over to where Sara was determinedly photographing something in an attempt to avoid having to converse with her colleagues.

"Hey, Sar." He cleared his throat, crouching down beside her. "You would tell us if there was something going on, right?"

She shifted her eyes to the side, catching his gaze.

"Yeah, of course." She lied. "I'm okay Nick."

He flashed her a bright smile, patting her back gently.

"Good, just checking." He winked at her playfully, standing up and dusting his pants off as he strode back to his kit.

She released a deep breath, shaking her head at her own lies.

She hated being dishonest with her team, but she was too scared to tell them the truth.

And if Catherine was willing to lie for her, then it couldn't be all bad; right?


	12. Make up stories all put on

**Sort of a filler chapter, but necessary to move the story along. I hope you like it anyway. **

**x x x x**

Sara moved as slowly as possible, willing herself not to make a sound.

A spring twanged beneath her and she winced, casting a furtive glance over her shoulder.

It was okay, Kirsty hadn't stirred.

Releasing a breath, she made to stand up but to her surprise two arms snaked around her waist.

"Where do you think you're going?" A sultry voice enquired lazily. Sara froze, trying to think up a plausible excuse. Somehow, only one word made it out.

"Coffee." She stuttered, cursing her lack of vocal ability.

Rolling over, but never relinquishing her hold on the brunette, Kirsty grinned up at her playfully.

"Oh you don't need coffee." She teased.

"No?" Sara asked uncertainly, not liking where this was potentially going.

"No, I can wake you up myself."

Yeah, that's what she had been worried about.

Against her every instinct, she allowed Kirsty to tug her back down and reacted tentatively to the kiss pressed against her mouth.

It wasn't that she didn't feel anything for Kirsty anymore; she was still attracted to her on a physical level. But on a more emotional scale, she was struggling to trust the woman.

To her blessed relief, the phone rang.

Ignoring the frustrated sigh from Kirsty, Sara slid out from beneath her and practically long-jumped across the small flat to grab it off the hook.

Kirsty reclined on the mattress, stretching all of her extremities until she was spread-eagled across the entire bed. She could only hear Sara's side of the conversation, but it didn't take a genius to work out who it was.

"You have to go to work." She stated as soon as she heard her girlfriend hang up.

"Yeah, sorry." Sara mumbled, already hunting for some clean clothes to wear. "It shouldn't take more than a few hours." … If she was unlucky, that is.

To her growing surprise, Kirsty took the news surprisingly well. Rolling off the bed, she encased her body in the blanket and shuffled across the floor to wrap Sara in a tight hug from behind.

"Maybe it's not such a bad thing." She hummed, peppering kisses along her slender neck. Sara tensed at the actions, praying that Kirsty didn't notice.

"Oh yeah?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah." Kirsty smiled against her skin. "Well, I might have some things of my own to do today." She explained coyly. "Some ... private things."

Sara could tell from her tone that she was expected to react to this, so she cocked her head to the side in mock curiosity as she began tugging her jeans on.

Taking the bait, Kirsty dragged a hand across her bare back seductively.

"You just make sure you're home by seven." She murmured. "I might have something planned for you."

"Seven." Sara repeated, trying and failing to sound enthused. "Right."

She held up the façade until the dark-skinned woman disappeared into her bathroom and she could finally relax a little.

It had been a relatively calm few weeks since Kirsty's blow-up about Catherine's text message.

Too calm. Something needed to give.

To add to Sara's growing edginess, Kirsty had been unusually nice to her recently. It was either a guilty conscience, she thought to herself, or the other woman was just oblivious to her increasingly evident discomfort.

The more time Sara spent with her girlfriend, the more she began to think Catherine was right about the relationship being doomed. She had convinced herself at first that if Kirsty could get help things would sort themselves out and it would go back to normal; but now she found herself wondering whether she would ever be able to trust the woman properly.

As it was, she flinched every time Kirsty came within arms length of her.

Even intimate moments had her scared stiff. And if she didn't relax soon, Kirsty might start to notice that something was wrong.

Which was precisely why she was not exactly thrilled about these 'plans' for her this evening.

She hadn't told Catherine yet that she was thinking of ending it, although the blonde continued to pester her about it. She made a point of asking at the start of each shift whether everything was okay, which Sara quickly realised was code for 'has she hit you again?'

As much as Catherine's persistence was wearing thin, Sara had to admit she was glad that someone knew. It comforted her slightly to know that if anything did happen, she had someone to call on. Someone to talk to.

And everything else aside, the one benefit of all this was that her and Catherine had become a lot closer in recent weeks. The boys had noticed, of course, but they weren't questioning it. They had no reason to – as long as the girls were getting along, they were happy.

X x x

"Hey Doc." Sara greeted warmly, sidling up to the bench.

"Sara." He nodded. "What can I do for you on this fine evening?"

She smiled fondly at the coroner. She always liked coming in here, if for nothing more than his sweet humour and kindly smile.

"Grissom sent me," she explained her presence. "He wants the Richardson file."

"Ah, of course." Snapping off his gloves, he abandoned his current work-in-progress on the slab and clicked towards his desk.

Sara ambled around the bench, leaning over to peer at the corpse curiously while trying not to touch anything.

"Here you are." The doctor hummed at last, coming over to hand her the folder. She smiled gratefully, instinctively flicking to the first page even though it wasn't her case. It was force of habit in her job to read every results sheet she was handed.

She became so engrossed in it that she didn't notice Albert staring at her with concern in his blue eyes.

"Sara." He said at last, taking a step closer. "Is everything alright?"

She froze, flicking her gaze suspiciously over the top of the paperwork.

"Of course, why wouldn't it be?" She answered as nonchalantly as she could, but her nerves were obvious even to her own ears.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "You just seem quieter than usual."

Snapping the folder shut, she took a deliberate step backwards towards the door.

"I'm fine." She insisted, holding her hands up defensively.

"Sara, you know … whatever's going on, you can talk to us. Everyone here cares about you."

She swallowed around the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat, shaking her head slowly.

"I'm fine." She repeated, waving the folder in the air. "Thanks, for this."

Before he could press the issue further, she spun on her heel and practically fell into the door.

Dave, coming the other way, barely moved out of her way in time as she stumbled past him into the cool air of the corridor.

"Oh, hi … Sara." He frowned, watching her disappear at a fair speed down the hall. "Huh, what's her hurry?"

"I don't know." Doc scowled, making his way back to his dead body. "But I don't like it."

X x x

She managed to get all the way to the locker room without running into anyone else and emitted a relieved sigh to find it empty.

She was getting more and more jumpy around her colleagues with every passing day. She couldn't help getting the feeling that they all knew something; although the logical part of her brain insisted she was just paranoid.

Then again, perhaps she had reason to be.

Checking that she was truly alone, she pulled the note out of her pocket and unfurled it. Her narrowed eyes scanned the text again, even though the image of it was burned into her memory.

It had fallen out of her locker when she arrived at work this afternoon – someone must have shoved it under the door.

It was a small, folded piece of paper with only one word printed in plain black ink.

'DYKE'

It had to have come from someone in the lab, someone who knew which one was her locker.

But who? And why now?

She had almost told Catherine, but decided against it. Though she highly doubted Cath was involved, she couldn't rule out the chance that her supervisor had let slip to someone that she was gay.

And if Cath had any idea who is was, the last thing Sara wanted was her making a big scene in the middle of the lab.

As her mind ran through the possibilities for the hundredth time, the very woman of her thoughts broke through her concentration.

"Hey." Cat greeted, causing Sara to hurriedly stash the note back in her pocket before turning around on the bench to face the blonde.

"Hi, I was just … taking a break." She lied quickly. Well, half-lied she supposed; technically she wasn't working so she was on a break of sorts.

Completely ignoring the odd behaviour, Catherine walked around her towards her own locker.

"I've got something for you." She stated, swinging the metal door open. Sara peered around her, mildly curious and equally nervous as to what it could be. She didn't really know what she was expecting, but what she was presented with was a complete surprise.

"What's this?" She blinked at it.

"It's a cell phone." Cath explained, somewhat needlessly. "I've already input my numbers, and the rest of the teams' – just in case."

"Thank you." Sara frowned, accepting the gift cautiously. "What's it for?"

"So I can keep in touch with you without Kirsty finding out." Catherine said as if it was obvious. "This way she can check your messages to her heart's content but she won't find anything suspicious in them."

"Cat, I…"

Before Sara could voice whatever argument was on the tip of her tongue, Cath silenced her with a finger over her lips.

"No, I don't want to hear it." She said calmly, pushing the phone towards Sara and folding the brunette's hand around it carefully. "Take it; keep it with you at all times. If I want to get in touch with you about anything not to do with work, this is the number I'll use."

Deciding that arguing with the older CSI would be futile, Sara pocketed the phone and offered a grateful smile.

"Thank you." She nodded meekly, sinking onto the bench.

Cath smiled brightly, glad to have found some small way to help. She was about to ask how things were going when her pager vibrated against her hip. Cursing Grissom's terrible timing, she reached down to stroke Sara's hair affectionately before slipping out to answer the persistent call of her supervisor.

Alone again, Sara reached into her pocket and extracted the note she had hidden.

She briefly contemplated taking it to Mandy to print, but the idea soon left her mind. That would involve confiding in someone else and that just wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

No, she would deal with this on her own.

And right now, that meant doing something that went against her every instinct as a CSI: destroying the evidence.


	13. But you've been cold to me so long

**Thanks for all the reviews guys! **

**x x x x**

"You know what I don't get?" Hodges asked idly, propping his head up on the sterile counter, much to Wendy's growing annoyance.

"Dates." She answered instantly, not bothering to tear her eyes from her computer screen.

"Sex." Mandy chirped in from her position, eavesdropping in the doorway.

Seeing a fun game in this, Wendy straightened up and shared a mischievous look with the fingerprint tech.

"A social life."

"40 year olds who _don't_ still live with their mother."

He looked between the two women in shocked insolence, not sure which insult to contest first.

"No." He shook his head, deciding to ignore their taunts altogether. "Bisexuals."

That was clearly not what either woman was expecting him to say and they each blinked at him in a mix of surprise and disgust.

"What?" Wendy asked, hoping that she had misunderstood the statement.

"No, not like that." Hodges quickly corrected himself, realising how that must have sounded. "I mean, I don't have a problem with it. I just don't get how can you be attracted to men at the same time as being attracted to women?"

"Well, that's kind of their thing." Mandy quirked an eyebrow behind her glasses, barely concealing her amusement.

"Yeah, but how?" He pressed. "Men and women are so different, how can you…" He paused mid-sentence, his brow furrowing in confusion. "What?"

The women turned, following his line of sight to the door where Sara was staring at him with an unreadable expression.

"Sara, you okay?" Wendy asked, taking a step closer. Snapping out of it, the CSI shook her head and offered a bashful smile.

"Yeah, sorry." She shrugged, hurriedly turning to leave before she embarrassed herself further. Her ears had pricked up at the trace tech's odd admission and the memory of her little note had suddenly sprung back to mind.

It was absurd of course. Hodges, really? He was hardly the master of deception.

However, before she could make her hasty retreat, Mandy's voice called her back.

"Oh, hang on!" She launched herself off the doorframe and darted back into her own lab.

As she vanished from his line of sight, Hodges scowled in her wake. "Hey!" He hollered after her. "I am not 40!"

Ignoring the indignant denial, she shuffled over to her desk and snatched the top folder off her unstable pile. "I got a hit off your rape case."

Sara trailed in behind the woman, her curiosity taking over her urgent desire to escape.

"Anything good?"

"Mark Davis." Mandy declared, handing her the printout. "Been arrested twice for indecent assaults and spent time in a juvenile facility when he was a teenager for sexual assault."

Sara smiled gratefully at the tech.

"Thank you."

For the second time, she made to leave; and also for the second time Mandy held her back, this time reaching out to brush her colleague's sleeve in an effort to keep her in place a little longer.

"Hey, Sara." She cleared her throat nervously. "Is Catherine okay?"

"Catherine?" Sara repeated, frowning. "Yeah, why?"

"It's probably nothing," Mandy shrugged. "But she was in here earlier and she just seemed distracted, like she was a million miles away. I've noticed it a few times lately."

Sara felt a twang of guilt at the realisation that she was the most likely cause behind Cath's pre-occupation of late. Seeing that Mandy was still waiting for an explanation, she masked her internal concern with a caring smile.

"She's fine, I think she's just tired."

"Okay." The other woman nodded, semi-satisfied with the answer. "I was just worried."

"I'll go check on her." Sara promised, glad when a relieved look flashed across the lab rat's eyes.

"Thank you." She smiled.

They may not spend that much time together, but Mandy was fond of the CSIs and she could always tell when something was wrong with one of them. And Lord knows, Catherine was not one to hide her feelings when something was bothering her.

It was actually one of the things Mandy loved about the feisty supervisor. That and her similiarly sarcastic sense of humour.

X x x

"Hey, you busy?" Sara enquired softly, peering around the door.

"Probably." Catherine muttered, tossing one folder after another onto the growing heap on the floor as she searched for the one she needed.

"I can come back." Sara decided aloud, making to go; but Cath instantly stopped what she was doing and spun on her heel.

"No, no." She gestured to the couch. "I can make time. What's up?"

"Actually," Sara pursed her lips, sinking into the cushions. "I came to ask you that."

"Me?" Cath repeated, joining her. "Why?"

"Mandy just asked me if you were okay. Apparently you seemed distracted earlier."

Catherine smiled at the concern from her colleagues.

"Oh, I'm fine." She dismissed it genially. "I mean, apart from being buried under a mountain of paperwork." She waved vaguely in the direction of her train-wreck of a desk. The ghost of a smile danced briefly across Sara's lips, but it was quickly replaced by her previous expression of disquiet.

"Is it because of me?" She asked uneasily. "Because of everything…"

"Oh, no honey." Catherine leant closer, taking both of Sara's hands between her own. "I mean, I am still worried about you of course." She corrected hurriedly. "But it's not your fault."

"Yes, it is." Sara mumbled sadly, looking away.

Sensing that she was missing a piece of information, Catherine inched closer on the couch and nudged her friend's shoulder.

"Come on." She probed gently. "I know when you're hiding something from me. Spill."

Sara couldn't help the smile that tugged at her lips when she flicked her gaze back up to the playful blue eyes staring at her. She just couldn't lie to this woman.

"Okay." She breathed, taking a minute to plan her words carefully. "I am planning on breaking up with Kirsty. Soon."

She felt Catherine's mood change instantly as the blonde bristled at the news.

"Why, has something happened?" She asked, her eyes naturally seeking out every inch of visible skin; which admittedly was not much right now.

"No, nothing like that." Sara promised, squeezing her hands tighter in a bid to reassure her. "That's kind of the reason in itself really." She admitted, earning her a puzzled look. "She's been oddly calm lately, about everything."

"And you're worried that she's building up to something?" Catherine guessed knowingly.

"Yes. No. Well, sort of." She answered vaguely with a helpless shrug. "I just can't take it anymore – I'm on edge all the time. I feel like if I so much as breathe at the wrong time she could just snap."

Despite her best efforts, she felt tears beginning to sting her eyes and her attempts to blink them away without Cath noticing failed miserably.

The blonde scooted as close as possible, wrapping one arm around her friend's shoulders.

"Honey, I know it's not an easy thing to do. But sometimes the only thing you _can_ do is to walk away."

"I know." Sara mumbled sheepishly. "I'm just scared."

"Yeah, I know babe." Cath agreed, tipping her head against Sara's. "But it'll be alright."

There was a long silence between the pair, before Catherine finally spoke again.

"How are you going to do it?"

"I don't know." Sara sighed, straightening up and wiping at her eyes. "I'm still trying to work that out."

"Well, when you decide let me know. That way I can be on standby in case she kicks off."

Sara smiled meekly at the offer.

"Thanks, but I'd rather not get you involved in this."

"Tough." Catherine responded blithely. "I'm already involved." Without giving the younger woman a chance to argue, she stood up and tapped the brunette's cheek with her fingertip gently. "Don't do anything until you've let me know."

X x x

Sara dropped her keys onto the counter and released a long, slow breath.

She had hoped that Kirsty wouldn't be here when she got back so she could plan what she was going to say in advance, but no such luck.

The woman in question wandered out of the bathroom and did a double take at the brunette's sudden appearance in the flat. Sara smiled weakly in greeting, her pitiful effort belaying her dread at what she was about to do.

"Oh, hey." Kirsty stated coolly, brushing past her and stalking towards the balcony doors. It was early and the sun was still low in the sky, blanketed by a light morning mist. Above the city of Las Vegas, the sky was a deep red and brimming with ominous clouds.

It was like the world was trying to warn her.

Sara couldn't help but pick up on Kirsty's cold demeanour towards her, but she decided it was probably better that way. If she was already pissed about something, it might make ending things a whole lot easier. Or worse, but there was only one way to find out for sure.

Realising that she still hadn't moved from the doorway, she forced herself to walk further into the flat and straightened her back in a vain attempt to project an air of confidence.

No time like the present, she thought to herself jadedly.

"Kirsty, I need to talk to you." She began with a steady voice. When the cop didn't move, she took another tentative step closer. "Please?"

To her pleasant surprise, the woman complied, albeit somewhat moodily.

She stropped towards the couch and flung herself onto it, fixing her girlfriend with a raised eyebrow.

"Well?"

Sara cleared her throat, electing to perch on the arm of the chair rather than join her on the couch.

"Look, I know this might come as a bit of a shock, but…"

"Oh no." Kirsty cut her off, shaking her head resolutely. "Nothing could shock me today." She sent Sara the same withering look she had when the CSI had first come through the door and Sara realised that she wasn't going to be able to do this until Kirsty had had her say.

"What's going on?" She asked at last, somewhat reluctantly.

Kirsty sat forward, resting her hands on her knees.

"I had some spare time on my hands this afternoon." She began calmly. "I decided to help out a colleague with some paperwork – I think you might know her: Sofia Curtis?"

Sara swallowed hard. This could not be good.

"Your name might have cropped up in conversation." The dark-skinned woman continued, her lips turning into a sneer. "And my word, did she have something to say about you…"


	14. A band of Angels wrapped up in my heart

"Kirsty." Sara held her hands up defensively, instinctively rising from the couch to put more distance between them. "That was a long time ago – before she and I were even on the same team."

"Oh, I know that." Kirsty chewed on the inside of her cheek, cocking her head to the side in mock-curiosity. "What I don't get is why you didn't tell me."

Sara swallowed again, stumbling over her words.

"I didn't think it was important." She squeaked at last. "It was barely even a relationship."

"Well, she seemed to think it was."

"What did she say?" Sara asked softly. She was genuinely puzzled as to why her ex had felt the need to mention it at all. It's not like they were even friends anymore; and lord knows Sofia was more than happy to keep quiet about things two years ago.

In fact, she was even more determined about that than Sara herself was.

"Oh don't worry." Kirsty scoffed. "She told me all about your little trysts."

"Trysts?" Sara repeated, shaking her head in bemusement. That did not sound like something Sofia would have said.

"Is that why you're always 'working late'?" The other woman pressed coldly, finally pushing herself off the couch and taking a step towards her increasingly anxious girlfriend. "So you can hook-up with your ex?"

"Of course not!" Sara stiffened at the accusation. "I would never …" she paused, clamping down on her indignation. "Look, Sofia and I are colleagues. Nothing more."

"Yeah, sure you are." Kirsty flicked her long, untameable hair over her shoulder sullenly.

"Kirsty, I have never cheated on you." Sara insisted through gritted teeth. "I never would."

Kirsty lifted her gaze slowly to seek out Sara's.

"Really? So why you were going to break up with me?" She asked in an eerily calm voice.

Sara stuttered, caught off guard.

"Well, that is what you wanted to talk about, isn't it?" She guessed, correctly as it happened.

Unable to form coherent sentences, all Sara could do was look away; an answer that spoke a thousand words.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled at last. "I just don't think it's working out. And it's nothing to do with Sofia, I promise … it's just me."

Okay, it wasn't her, but now was hardly the time to start throwing stones.

To her surprise, Kirsty laughed. But it was a cruel, heartless laugh that left Sara's blood cold.

"Oh, it's you alright." She agreed bitterly. "You're just lucky that I'm willing to forgive and forget. For now."

Sara's brow furrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," Kirsty took a step closer and Sara responded with a deliberate step back, until she felt the kitchen counter against her spine. "Miss Sidle, that you are not breaking up with me." She paused, her lips turning into a callous sneer. "Not unless you want your boss to find out about you and Sofia, that is…"

Sara's eyes widened, the knot in her stomach tightening with every passing second.

"You wouldn't…" she mumbled, her voice betraying the gut-wrenching fear she was feeling right now.

"Why don't you try me?" Kirsty challenged with a smirk. "Maybe while I'm at it I can tell him all about your family history, too. I bet they'd love to hear that story."

Sara's face fell, every ounce of colour draining from it until her skin was a deathly shade of white.

She didn't know what scared her more right now:

The thought of what her team might say if they found out about her sordid past;

Or the realisation that she hadn't even told Kirsty about that part of her life.

X x x

"Hey," Catherine was on her feet as soon as Sara entered the locker room and it was obvious from her anxious twitching that she had been waiting for the brunette to arrive. "So, how'd it go?"

"Fine." Sara cleared her throat, stepping around her supervisor and pretending to busy herself in her locker.

"So, she took it okay?" Cath frowned, following her across the locker room to lean against the metal doors. "Nothing happened?"

"Nope."

"Huh." She hummed. "Well, that's good."

"Yeah." Sara turned, a half-sarcastic smile on her lips as she attempted to vacate the small room before any more awkward questions could be sent her way. She had actually planned on tidying her locker out - that was partly why she was so early - but it could wait until she was alone.

Catherine frowned at her departing colleague; something about her demeanour was off.

"You didn't do it, did you?" She asked before Sara could escape. The younger woman stopped in the threshold. Her shoulders visibly slumped and she dropped her gaze to the floor in shame.

"No, I didn't." She agreed at last.

Slowly, Catherine stepped towards her and reached out a hand to brush her arm.

"What happened?" Her voice was non-accusatory, but Sara could tell she was disappointed. She turned around, tears shining in her eyes.

"I'm sorry." She shook her head helplessly. "I couldn't do it."

X x x

Having re-located to a more private location and palmed the boys off with a feeble excuse for missing the start-of-shift assignments handout, Catherine hip-checked her office door closed and handed Sara one mug of freshly brewed coffee.

Sara accepted it gratefully, nursing it between her hands as she sank back into the sofa cushions.

Without a word Catherine locked the door, shut the blinds and joined her on the couch.

For a long few minutes, neither of them spoke or made eye contact as they sipped their drinks. At least, Catherine sipped hers; while Sara prefered to stare into it forlornly, as if it held the answers to all of her problems.

"The Bellagio." She stated randomly at last, breaking the heavy silence between them. However, though grateful for the conversation starter, Cath didn't understand the reference.

"That's when I decided I was going to end it." She explained upon noting her colleague's confused frown. "She'd booked us a meal and a room – 7pm sharp. She went to so much trouble to get everything right … and all I could think about was how I could keep her from touching me."

"Honey," Cath reached out to brush the back of her hand gently, but Sara pulled away from the movement. Realising that the cagey woman was not in the right frame of mind for physical contact right now, Cath grudgingly retracted her hand.

"I just can't trust her anymore." Sara mumbled sadly, staring into the dark liquid with intense concentration.

"Then why didn't you end it?"

It was a perfectly logical question, but Sara didn't have an answer. At least, not one that she could share.

"I couldn't." Was all that she could offer, pitiful as it was. "I want to, but I can't."

"Sweetheart," Catherine shifted, rubbing her forehead in deliberation. "I know how scary it is to leave someone who's hurting you; I know that you feel guilty, like you owe them another chance. But you don't. And as long as you stay with them, they'll just keep on hurting you."

"I know that." Sara murmured, looking away.

"But it's okay sweetie." Cath continued earnestly. "Once you do this, I promise we can protect you. She won't be able to hurt you anymore."

"Cat…" Sara attempted to interrupt, but the blonde wouldn't let her.

"Sar, whatever it is that you're scared she's going to do to you, I promise I won't let it happen."

"No, it's not that." Sara finally managed to say, shaking her head firmly.

"Then what is it?" Catherine pressed, daring to reach out and rest a hand on her knee and; though Sara didn't pull away this time, she didn't answer the question either. Her evasiveness prompted Cath to move closer on the couch, effectively pinning the younger woman in the corner. "Sara, whatever it is that you're scared of, you can't let it hold you back. Please honey, you have to end it before it gets out of hand. Please."

Catherine Willows was not by any standards a woman who begged. But she was willing to make an exception in this instance.

However, her desperate pleas fell on deaf ears as Sara shook her head determinedly. When the young CSI finally lifted her gaze, unshed tears were glistening in her wide, hazel eyes.

"No, you don't understand." She whispered, the words catching in her throat. "I can't."

X x x

Having left Catherine sincerely confused, Sara decided that she needed to go for a walk somewhere to clear her head.

Unfortunately, Las Vegas was not San Francisco and there were few scenic areas suitable for leisurely strolls in this area of the town.

Which is how she came to be on the roof of CSI instead.

Despite being a fair distance away from Downtown and the Strip, you still got a pretty good view of the city from up there. The garish lights masked any stars that were above them, but on a clear night you could just about see the moon shining down on the desert

Usually this side of the roof was sheltered from the wind, but tonight there was a distinctly cold breeze blowing around her. She, however, barely noticed.

She was too numb to feel a thing anymore.

Behind her, the heavy steel door creaked open. She cast a brief glance over her shoulder, expecting to see Catherine hovering behind her with the usual look of concern on her face.

To her surprise, it was Greg who had found her hiding place.

Catching her eye, he smiled and ambled over casually to join her against the railings.

"Nice night." He hummed approvingly.

"Yeah." She breathed half-heartedly. She supposed it was, although she had been too distracted to notice.

He scrutinised her closely from behind his lashes, contemplating how he was going to address the issue on his mind. Unfortunately for the ex-lab rat, she beat him to the punch.

"You know, when I first came to Vegas I hated it here." She admitted quietly. "I hated the lights, the fact that it never really gets dark here. I hated the noise from the casinos; the tourists. The desert heat." She paused, licking her lips. "But now, I can't imagine myself living anywhere else. And it's not because of the city, or the job. It's the people. I've never really felt truly safe around anyone the way I do around you guys."

Greg blinked at her in surprise, not entirely sure how to handle her odd confession. It was so rare to get even a glimpse of Sara's psyche that to see her like this, her soul completely bared, felt like he was somehow intruding on something he wasn't meant to hear. The last thing he wanted to do was ruin the touching moment by scaring her back into defensive mode.

On the other hand, the fact that she _was_ opening up meant something must be very wrong.

Without wanting to startle her, he slid his hand along the railing until it brushed against hers. She jumped at the contact and her movement allowed him a brief glimpse of the tear tracks reflecting on her pale cheeks. She didn't even seem aware of them herself as she blinked at him in surprise - as if she'd forgotten he was beside her.

"What's wrong Sara?" He asked at last, his usually playful voice hoarse and thick with worry.

Without speaking, she stepped closer to the young man and allowed him to wrap an arm around her waist from behind. She tipped her head back against his shoulder, letting him support her weight as she relaxed for just a moment.

"Greg." She mumbled at last. "If I tell you something, will you promise not to judge me?"

"Of course." He frowned, tightening his grip around her middle.

However, he never got a chance to prove it.

As she opened her mouth to speak, an instantly recognisable alarm shattered the peaceful silence and below them people began piling out of the building into the cool night air.


	15. Livin' for the right to be free

The hallway was filled with swirling grey smoke. It danced around them, almost as if it were actually alive, as they stumbled blindly down the corridor.

Sara felt Greg's hands guiding her through the maze of labs, using his body to shield her as much as possible; although what he was protecting her against was anyone's guess since they couldn't begin to locate the source of the obstructive smoke.

Finally, they spotted a few stragglers heading for the front doors and spilled outside alongside them. The first gulp of fresh air was bitterly cold against their burning lungs.

"Oh, thank God." Grissom breathed, rushing over to his two missing team members. "Are you guys alright?"

Sara and Greg gave each other a quick once over and nodded breathlessly.

"Yeah, we're fine." Greg coughed. "What's going on?"

"We don't know." The aging man rubbed a hand through his short hair. "The fire alarm alerted us to the smoke, but it spread so quickly we couldn't work out where it was coming from."

They nodded along, although they had only actually caught the first half of his sentence as the emergent fire sirens drowned out the rest.

The boss hurriedly ushered them both down the steps towards the rest of the team, who were huddled together in a sheltered part of the parking lot.

Since none of them were dressed appropriately for outside weather, Nick was hopping from one foot to the other in an effort to keep warm and Catherine had practically fused herself to Warrick's body. She smiled in relief when she saw Sara approach and reached out to pull the brunette into their little circle. Warrick absently wrapped an arm around each woman, pulling them tighter against his chest as he watched the newly-arrived firemen dash into the building.

Across the parking lot, two figures strolled towards the gathered group, eyeing the excitement with unbridled curiosity.

"What happened, Nicky? One of your experiments go wrong?" Brass teased playfully, earning a half-hearted smile from the Texan.

"We heard on the police scanner." Sofia interjected, more serious than her Captain. "What's going on?"

"We don't know." Grissom shrugged, spotting another person in the amassed crowd. "Excuse me."

He trotted off to collar Ecklie, who was currently rather busy harassing the fire chief for some answers of his own.

"Man, this is going to be expensive." Warrick whistled, noting the expanse of smoke that billowed out of the swinging front doors.

"I don't know." Greg frowned. "This doesn't feel like a fire – there isn't any heat, just smoke."

"You're right." Sofia hummed in agreement, casting her eyes over Sara. The brunette was staring resolutely at the building, whether in shock of just to avoid catching anyone's eyes she didn't know.

As it happened, the detective had been on her way to CSI anyway when the alert came in. She had been reviewing her conversation with Kirsty Soames the other night and she wanted to clear some things up with her ex.

She hadn't actually meant to say it, it had just slipped out. The cop didn't seem too offended by her confession, more shocked than anything. But that wasn't what was concerning her.

In her sudden guilt at having just outed both herself and Sara, she had forgotten to ask how Kirsty even knew Sara. And for some reason, the thought simply wouldn't leave her alone.

X x x

"Smoke bomb." The chief declared, scratching his head beneath his helmet.

"A single smoke bomb did all that?" Catherine asked sceptically, thrusting herself off the doorframe and joining them at the centre bench.

"Yep." He insisted gruffly. He was a large man – in every dimension – with thinning grey hair and a rough complexion to match his voice. With his fingers hooked into his suspenders, he could almost pass for a character out of a black and white comedy sketch.

"This was one powerful smoke bomb." He continued, releasing a snort. "Lucky it wasn't a stink bomb, you'd have had to vacate the building for a week!"

Ecklie scowled, not in the mood for his crass jokes right now.

"When will we be able to get the lab up and running again?" The director asked, straight to the point.

"As soon as my guys have checked that there's no damage to the equipment. I wouldn't worry though, it should be fine." The man assured them. "All I can tell you so far is that it started outside your changing room."

"Who set it off?" Grissom asked absently, talking to himself more than anyone else. "And why?"

"That's your job." The fire chief grunted again, clearly not familiar with Grissom's vacant moods.

"We'll have to do a full inventory of evidence, see if anything was taken." Catherine changed the subject. "If anything _is_ missing then it could point to motive."

Ecklie released a heavy sigh.

"Yeah." He agreed despondently. "Alright Catherine, you take Sara and Warrick and get onto that. Get the lab techs to help you." He instructed, gesturing across the hall to the mass of people in lab coats picking over their smoke-covered evidence despondantly. "Greg and Archie can check the CCTV footage and Nick can help Grissom examine the bomb."

Cath nodded, quirking an eyebrow at the man. "What are you going to do?"

He sighed again, sending her a forlorn look.

"I'm going to go explain to the Sherriff why he has to have his lab deep cleaned for smoke damage."

Sharing a small smile at his misfortune, Cath and Gil locked eyes across the room.

"I guess I'll go grab the guys." She said at last.

"Hey Cath," he called after her. "See if Sofia will help too. The sooner we get through this, the sooner we can get back to normal."

She nodded, slipping out in search of her team.

"So," Brass hummed, pushing himself off the back wall. "Where do you need me?"

Gil smiled, a look that could only mean bad things for his old friend.

"The morgue." He said cheerfully. "You're going to help Doc Robbins and David check that all of the bodies are still where they should be."

X x x

Seeing as it was the source of the smoke-bomb, Sara wasn't even sure she was meant to be in here; but no one had stopped her so far.

She swung her locker open, her brow furrowing at the sight of a small metal box sat innocently on the shelf.

Using her sleeves to cover her hands, she lifted it out and carefully prised the lid open.

The smell hit her instantly. It was almost familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.

Scrunching her nose up, she blinked at the contents in a mix of confusion and shock.

Like before, someone had left only one word on the note. The same four angry letters as before stared up at her in silent abuse.

Only this time it wasn't just a harmless piece of paper. This time, whoever had left the vile message seemed to be trying to get at her twice over.

They had written it onto a piece of beef jerky.

On instinct, she hurled it away from her body. It clattered into the trash can, the metal lid of the box slamming shut as it pin-balled its way to the bottom.

Bracing herself against the lockers, she released several deep breaths, trying to regain some sort of composure. Who the hell was doing this? And why?

"Sara?" The voice startled her and she jumped to face the door, guilt written all over her features at being caught out.

Sofia frowned, picking up on her ex's obvious discomfort.

"You okay?" She asked, coming further into the room.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Sara breathed, running a hand through her hair. "It's just … you know, hectic night."

"Yeah." Sofia smiled sympathetically. "Catherine's looking for you."

"She is?" Sofia obviously noticed the tremor to her voice, but elected not to call her on it. Yet.

"Yeah, she wants us to do inventory on all the evidence in storage; make sure nothing's missing."

"Right, okay." Sara nodded, slamming her locker shut and and following the blonde back into the hallway. She paused in the doorway, casting a nervous glance back at the trashcan.

Something told her that she had just found the reason for the smoke bomb.

But why would someone go to so much effort just to upset her?

X x x

"Alright." Catherine planted her hands on the table. "Archie and Greg are sorting AV, so; Mandy, you take Warrick and do fingerprints. Sara, you go with Wendy, Sofia take Henry. David," she flashed Hodges a false grin, "you're with me."

"Oh goody." He replied, mock sarcastically.

"What about Bobby?" Sara asked, noting the ballistics tech busying himself in his lab as they were speaking.

"He's checking all of the weapons are secure first." Cath explained. "Whoever finishes first, you get Bobby."

"Awesome." Warrick nodded. "Let's get this over with."

"What, you don't want to spend the night with me?" Mandy teased, following him across the hall.

As they each dispersed, Sara tried to leave but found herself trapped, face to face with Sofia in the threshold.

"Hey," the detective cleared her throat. "Can we talk?" She asked in a low, conspiratorial voice. "There's something I need to tell you."

"I can't." Sara attempted to side-step her but found herself pinned between the woman and the doorframe.

"Please." Sofia pressed. "It'll only take a few minutes."

Sara cast an anxious glance into the DNA lab, where Wendy was waiting patiently for her to follow.

"Alright," she conceded reluctantly when it was obvious that she wasn't leaving until she agreed. "Just, not now, okay?"

Deciding that that was as good as she was going to get, Sofia stepped aside and let her escape.

In truth, it was probably best left until later anyway. That way she could work out what she was actually going to say.

However she spun it, Sara wouldn't like what she had to say.


	16. You can see it in her eyes

**Hi guys, I know there's not much excitement in this chapter, but I promise there is some coming soon :) **  
**Hope you're all still enjoying it!**

**x x x x**

"I analysed the smoke bomb components," Nick began, flexing his fingers across his extensive sheaf of notes. It was plain to see that the Texan enjoyed having centre stage – and he was in his element right now. "It was definitely homemade, but this wasn't your usual high-school prank type smoke bomb. This thing was military standard."

"The military?" Greg repeated. "So, the army's trying to sabotage the lab?"

"I don't think so, G." Nick chuckled. "Although that's not to say that whoever made this didn't have military training – it took skill."

"Good for them." Warrick grunted. "Can we get anything off that funky bomb to identify who made it?"

"Oh, no." Nicky shook his head, sobering up again. "I checked every surface; no fingerprints, no DNA. And the chemicals that were used are pretty standard, could have been bought anywhere on the high street."

"Okay." Cath exhaled, resting her hands on the bench. "So, what _do_ we know?"

"We know how they got it in." Grissom interjected, stepping forward. He produced a photograph of an unmarked cardboard box with an evidence label stuck on the front.

"Someone disguised it as a piece of evidence?" The blonde scrunched her nose up, squinting at the photo in an effort to read the label.

"Yeah, this box was found on a trolley full of other evidence that was left in the corridor." The boss explained. "We've checked everything else on the trolley – it was all genuine apart from this box."

"So, where did it come from?" Warrick voiced the question that was playing on everyone's mind.

"We don't know." He breathed. "It appears that someone must have snuck it onto the trolley while inside the evidence locker. But that could have happened anytime in the last week and since there's no CCTV inside the locker..."

"Dead end." Catherine summed up bluntly.

Grissom released a breath, slamming his folder shut.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Hold up a second." Warrick held his hands up. "We still have the bomb itself. I mean, someone must have set it off, right?"

"Yeah, someone did." Nick agreed, clearing his throat as he produced another document for the dark-skinned CSI to peruse. "As far as I can tell, it was activated remotely."

"So, whoever activated it didn't even need to be on site?" Greg asked, furrowing his brow. "That hardly narrows it down."

"Well, not exactly." Nick continued. "You see, remote activation devices typically rely on frequency. They need to be within a certain distance of the device for the signal to register. I would say it would have to be a mile at the most."

"Can Archie track the signal?" Catherine asked, her interest captured again as she leant over Warrick's shoulder to read the information.

"He's working on it now."

A depressed silence fell over the group at the evidence, or lack thereof.

"Do we have a motive yet?" Grissom asked at last, his brow rising in hope.

"No." Catherine flicked her long hair over her shoulder petulantly. "We checked all the inventory, everything's accounted for."

"So," he sighed, casting his gaze around the room at each CSI in turn. "Where does that leave us?"

As a contemplative quiet fell over the group, one member in particular was studiously staring at the table.

It went against every bone on her body to keep evidence from her team, but she just couldn't find it in her to mention the metal box currently lying at the bottom of a trash can in the locker room.

X x x

"Relax, it's not that bad." Sofia joked, tracing a finger around the rim of her coffee mug.

Sara stopped her nervous fidgeting and flicked her eyes up, narrowing them at her ex.

"What did you want to tell me?" She asked at last, although she already had an inkling as to the topic of this conversation.

Sofia looked briefly taken aback by the brusque question.

"Right, um …" she paused, licking her lips. "There's not really an easy way to say this."

Sara quirked an eyebrow impatiently, drumming her fingers on the table.

"Okay, a couple of nights ago I was working with a patrol cop and she mentioned your name."

"Kirsty." Sara cleared her throat. "I know, she told me."

Sofia's expression belayed her surprise at this information, but she quickly hid it behing an apologetic smile.

"Oh. Right, well I just wanted to explain … I didn't mean to tell her about us. It just slipped out."

"It's fine." Sara looked away, casting her eyes through the grease-stained window and across the deserted parking lot.

Sofia scrutinised her for a long moment, trying to guage her mood. It was one thing she had never quite mastered, even when they were dating. Sara had the uncanny ability to hide her emotions and feelings behind a mask of indifference, or a blank wall of silence.

"How do you know her?" She asked at last, re-gaining Sara's attention. The brunette turned her stoic expression back to the detective.

"That's none of your business, Sofia." She stated bluntly, gathering her jacket from the seat and standing up. "Are we done?" The question was rhetorical and she didn't appear interested in sticking around to hear the answer.

"Be careful Sara." Sofia almost shouted after her rapidly departing colleague, launching to her feet herself. Sara stopped, turning slowly back to the booth with a questioning look in her eyes. Sofia swallowed, glancing self-consciously around them. It was mid-shift, so the only people in Franks besides them were the staff and a couple of tourists who'd obviously gotten lost way off-Strip.

"Sara, I don't know what's going on between you two and I don't want to know." She held her hands up defensively, softening her tone. "But just … be careful."

With the cryptic message received, Sara turned around and walked stiffly out into the crisp air. It was nearly dawn and the sky was starting to change colour.

She used to love this time of day, when she lived near the beach. It just wasn't the same in a city where the lights never switched off and the sky was permanently a garish shade of orange.

X x x

The lights from above reflected off the puddles left from yesterday's rainfall. The fusion of colours and the motion of the water together almost had a psychedelic effect.

"So," the cop asked, breaking the awkward silence between them and snapping Sara's attention back from the hypnotic puddles. "Anything interesting happen at work today?"

"No." Sara responded instantly, wrapping her arms around her body. Kirsty had been bored in the flat and Sara didn't want her to get any romantic ideas so she'd suggested a walk along the Strip instead. She just wished she'd put on more layers first.

Despite her instinctive answer to the seemingly normal question, Sara paused.

Actually, something had happened. She turned, cocking her head to side curiously. "What did you get up to tonight?" The question came across as perfectly innocent and Kirsty gladly began detailing her night at work, unaware of Sara's ulterior motive.

When the first note had appeared in her locker, the thought that it could be Kirsty had briefly crossed her mind but she had quickly disregarded it. After all, Kirsty was gay. Why on earth would she slip a homophobic note into her own girlfriend's locker?

But after the effort gone to today to get a second note to her, Sara had given it some more thought. Perhaps this wasn't about homophobia. What if this was just someone trying to mess with her head?

And no one did that better than Kirsty herself.

How better to freak her out than to leave an abusive message for her and panic the whole lab in the process? Because now Sara was in the awkward position of having to decide between her obligation to the lab and protecting her own privacy.

Kirsty was testing her nerve.

And that was one game that Sara Sidle was a pro at.


	17. It's running silent and angry and deep

**Told you we were getting some action... :P**

**x x x x**

She hadn't even realised how long she'd been sitting there, staring blankly at the wall, until the pair of hands appeared over her eyes and startled her back to reality.

"Hey." Kirsty greeted, leaning down to drop a kiss onto the shocked brunette's cheek. "You look troubled."

"No." Sara laughed nervously. "I was just … thinking."

"Hmm, should I be worried?" The cop asked teasingly, sliding around the chair to perch on her lap.

Sara pursed her lips, shaking her head.

Lately, she had found that the best way to avoid saying the wrong thing was to say nothing at all.

"I'm going into town, do you want anything?" Kirsty continued, tangling her hand in the tight curls at the nape of Sara's neck.

"No, thank you." Sara cleared her throat, resisting the urge to shift uncomfortably at her girlfriend's fondling.

"Okay." Kirsty kissed her again before climbing off and adjusting her clothes. "I won't be long."

"Take your time." Sara smiled.

Indeed, the longer Kirsty was out of the house the better.

As soon as the door closed, Sara stood up and began to pace.

Looking around her small apartment, it felt like a foreign country to her. Kirsty was here so often, she was essentially being held captive in her own home.

Hopefully, though, not for much longer.

The last few weeks had been torture, but she was biding her time. She didn't want to accuse Kirsty of setting off the smoke bomb and planting the messages in her locker before she had conclusive evidence.

Then, and only then, could she turn the tables on the manipulative woman.

Gathering information against Kirsty had been relatively simple, to start with.  
From their few stunted conversations about the woman's past, Sara knew that she had trained as an engineer. She had actually wanted to join the army, but they'd failed her on the psychiatric aspect.

Go figure.

As for the lack of fingerprints, Sara frequently found excess gloves in her pockets when she got home from work; it was entirely conceivable that Kirsty could have taken a pair and used them to make the bomb.

All she'd have to do then was get it into the building. And, as a cop, she had unlimited access to the evidence locker. She would simply have had to stick an evidence label on the box and carry it in with a load of other evidence from a crime scene. Cops were always asked to take evidence to the vault – it would have looked perfectly innocent.

This just left one piece of the puzzle. And that piece was now in a folder in her work bag, masquerading as a lab report.

It had taken a little bit of begging – something she was normally loath to do – but thankfully Sofia was still sweet enough on her to not ask too many questions. She had given up the information with surprisingly little argument, in fact.

Sara had a feeling that request would come back to bite her soon, but she would worry about that in due course. After all, once Kirsty was out of the picture, Sara could tell Sofia the truth without fear of repercussion.  
She would have to check the handbook to be certain, but she was fairly sure that planting a bomb of any kind in a government building is a sackable offence. And once Kirsty was out of the station and unable to hold that position over her anymore, she wouldn't be so scared to tell the truth.

All that was left for her to do was tell someone. And that's where she'd come unstuck.

Initially, she'd planned on just leaving an anonymous file on Jim's desk, but she figured he'd soon find out it was her and that could lead to some awkward questions.

And lord knows she could not lie to the detective. Hell, the man was the closest thing she'd ever had to a parent.

So, she came up with Plan B. She would admit what had been going on, but only to the minimum number of people possible.

And if she was going to do this, she would need backup.

With a shaky hand, she reached for the phone but something made her stop. It was highly doubtful she knew, but there was a tiny chance that Kirsty could have tapped her phone. After all, she had read her texts.

Instead, she wandered over to her guitar case, reaching inside and around the back of the instrument until her hand brushed the small smooth device.

Her guitar – a beautiful tobacco-sunburst Gibson Hummingbird, with white and gold decoration – was her most prized possession; and it was also one place that Kirsty would never think of looking for a secret cell phone.

X x x

"Catherine, you cannot go around talking to victims like that!"

Sofia stalked the CSI into her office, barely stopping the door with her foot before it was slammed into her face.

"She's not a victim." Cath spat, hurling her bag at the floor beside her desk. It hit the trash can, causing it to teeter for a second before righting itself. "She's clearly the dominant one in that relationship. That poor guy doesn't stand a chance."

"We don't know that." Sofia insisted, placing her hands on her hips. The woman seemed to have a serious chip on her shoulder about something today and it had been driving the detective to distraction all shift.

Catherine whirled to face her, leaning against the desk.

"Women are just as capable of domestic abuse as men, Sofia." She snapped through gritted teeth.

"I know that." Sofia emitted a dry laugh. "But that's not the point here. The point it is you cannot go around making assumptions about cases until all of the facts are in."

Catherine scoffed, tilting her head back towards the ceiling.

"Sometimes instinct is better than fact." She released a shuddering breath. "And my gut is telling me that _she's_ the abuser, not him."

"How can you know that?" Sofia pressed, stepping closer.

"I just … I just know."

"Now you sound like Sara." Sofia muttered.

"Yeah, well she'd know."

The throwaway comment wasn't meant for the detective to hear, but her trained ears picked up on it anyway.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Catherine dropped her gaze guiltily, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she instantly regretted the mistake.

Sofia took a deliberately careful step closer, cocking her head to the side.

"What do you know, Catherine?"

X x x

Sara snatched the towel off the hook and wrapped it around herself hurriedly.

This shift had been so busy; she'd barely had time to dwell on what was to come later on.

She was going to meet with Catherine at the end of shift and – hopefully – they would go and talk to Brass together.

Then, she kept assuring herself, it would all be over. She could walk away.

After ringing her damp hair out, she tightened the towel around herself and tugged the curtain open.

Her clothes were on the bench, where she had left them. For some reason she had developed this paranoid fear that one day she would get out of the shower and all of her clothes would be gone. And with the strange things that had been happening around here lately, it wasn't exactly unreasonable to be concerned.

She stepped out of the shower and towards the bench when a shadow on the floor caught her attention. She spun around, but even her quick reflexes weren't quite fast enough.

She barely caught sight of the figure before she felt a sharp pain against her head. After that, the last thing she recalled seeing was the cold, hard floor hurtling towards her.

X x x

"Whew!" Warrick whistled as he and Nick drifted down the corridor with matching grins. "You smell that?"

"Yeah, you know it smells sort of familiar." Nick agreed, raising his voice a little. "Decomp?"

"Nah, it's worse than that." Warrick hummed.

Up ahead, Greg's ears pricked up and he narrowed his eyes as his colleagues continued stalking him through the hall.

"Yeah, you're right." Nick sniffed the air again, hitting Warrick's arm lightly. "You know what, I know what it smells like. Greg's apartment."

At their childish laughter, Greg came to a sudden halt outside the locker room and whirled to face them.

"Alright, very funny." He held his hands up. "I smell."

"No, no man." Nick disagreed, giving him a once over. "You reek."

Greg sent the Texan an exasperated look.

"Grissom needed someone to search through a dumpster for our vic's missing purse." He explained. "And since you guys were too _busy_, guess who got the job instead."

Ignoring the direct shot at them, the boys exchanged an entertained look.

"So, did you find the purse?" Nick asked, barely containing his amusement.

"No." Greg dropped his hands to his side. "But I did find a dead rat and several bags of rotting fish. Did I mention the dumpster was behind a sushi restaurant?"

Warrick snorted, earning him a disgruntled look from the ex-lab rat.

"Oh man." The dark-skinned CSI howled. "He's stepped up his game for you."

"Yeah, I thought the trash cans behind Chucky Cheese were bad." Nick laughed.

Realising that he was clearly out of the loop here, Greg folded his arms across his chest sullenly.

"Alright, what don't I know?" He asked impatiently. Sharing another look with Warrick, Nick finally took pity on the boy.

"Grissom does this to all new CSIs in their first few months." He explained. "It's kind of an initiation, but you never know when it's going to come."

Greg's brow furrowed as his mind worked through this. Slowly, his face began to fall.

"There was no purse in that dumpster, was there?" He asked incredulously.

Nick and Warrick just smiled, glad to have clarified the issue for him.

Having had their fun – and quite frankly fed up of the smell – they decided to leave him alone to curse Grissom in peace.

Hodges, heading the other way, initially offered a silent nod in greeting but froze halfway past the man. He stepped back, leaning closer to the newest Graveyard Team member.

"I know you don't possess the best fashion sense," the forensic scientist began, wrinkling his nose up in distaste. "But could you at least change your shirt every once in a while?"

Turning his narrowed eyes slowly towards the tech, he darted out a hand and pretended to flick something at him.

Hodges flinched, hurrying away as fast as his legs would carry him.

Rolling his eyes, Greg emitted a frustrated sigh.

"If anyone needs me," he announced to the now-vacated corridor, "I'll be in the shower."

X x x

Unlike the other guys, Greg had always been shy about revealing his body, even around his colleagues. If he were to analyse the phobia, he could probably trace it back to high school. But that was a can of worms he really didn't want to open. Ever.

Ensuring that Hodges had well and truly left the vicinity, he cast a few nervous glances around the empty room before stripping his shirt off on the way into the shower block. He expected it would be empty – the only other person who'd had a gross case tonight was Sara and she'd been back in the lab ages.

En route to the shower room, his shirt got stuck over his head and he stumbled blindly into the doorframe.

"Ow." He grunted, finally wrenching it free and lauching himself inside.

However, his triumph quickly turned to horror as the first thing his brown eyes settled on froze him to the spot.

He had seen this room so many times before, but now it looked almost alien to him; like walking into an unfamiliar crime scene for the first time.

It was the colour that first caught his attention. Bright red on the sterile grey floor.

Red, flooding the ground beneath Sara's limp, pale body.


	18. And when I see you like that

**Can't decide whether this chapter is too dramatic or just too long, but I hope you like it anyway. **

**x x x x**

Greg stumbled out of the door, spinning in a full circle in the empty hallway.

"Someone help!" He hollered, tears spilling down his pale, terrified face.

Sofia, halfway down the hall, came to an abrupt stop and turned towards the frantic man at the exact time Catherine poked her head out of her office.

"Help!" He repeated, remaining in their sight just long enough for them to catch a glimpse of the red streaks staining his hands and bare chest.

Cath and Sofia wasted no more time in following him, their previous argument all forgotten in a flash as they raced into the locker room.

He was already back in the shower block, kneeling down on the cold, wet ground when the women fell inelegantly through the door together.

"Oh no." Sofia gasped, one hand flying to her mouth as the other clutched her lurching stomach.

Sara's unconscious, towel-clad body was face down on the floor; her blood fluid and pale as it spread into the puddles of water littering the tiles.

"Oh, God." Catherine stepped carefully around the blood pool and crouched down beside the prone woman, pressing two trembling fingers to her neck. The skin was hot and damp to the touch.

Greg, hanging back this time, was shifting anxiously from one foot to the other. Sofia placed a comforting hand on his arm, her face contorted into a mask of worry.

"What happened?" She asked of the young man softly.

"I don't know." Greg ran a hand through his spiky hair, his voice trembling and weak. "I came in to take a shower… I, I just found her like this."

"Call an ambulance." Cath instructed calmly, her fingers still pressed against Sara's neck; taking comfort from the rhythmic beating of the girl's steady pulse.

Greg fumbled instinctively in his pocket for his phone, then remembered he'd left it in his locker for safe keeping while he was in the shower. In his rush to get back to the locker room he nearly took Sofia off her feet, but he was too freaked to even notice as he swung himself around the doorframe and stumbled across the room.

After a frenzied search he located the device and barely managed to dial despite his tremors, when Nick and Warrick wandered past again. They paused, throwing a lazy glance into the room.

"What's up, you leave all your clean shirts at home?" Nick teased playfully, misreading the frenetic actions of the young man.

Blatantly ignoring the comment, Greg tapped his foot impatiently while waiting for a response on the end of the line.

"Ambulance, quickly." He gushed into the phone before the switch controller could get her first sentence out. "Las Vegas Crime Lab."

Instantly sobering up at this news, Nick and Warrick entered the room; their foreheads creased in concern.

"What's going on?" Rick asked. Now that they could see Greg better they noticed for the first time the blood on his hands and red smears on his chest. Unable to form a coherent explanation, he just pointed them towards the showers.

X x x

Sofia jumped at the ungraceful entrance, fortuitously moving aside and giving them full view of Sara's lifeless body on the floor.

"Oh man!" Nick's horrified exclamation startled Catherine, who had been busy checking Sara for any injury other than the obvious dent in her forehead.

"What the hell happened?" Warrick asked, naturally taking a step closer.

Well aware of Sara's state of undress, Catherine shook her head at him.

"Wait outside guys." She instructed calmly.

Understanding the reason for the request, Nick tugged on his mate's arm.

"Come on, we'll go wait for the ambulance." He said softly, trying to ignore the instinctive fear bubbling in the pit of his stomach.

On their way out, they passed Greg coming back in. He, unlike the other two men, cared not for Sara's privacy at this moment in time as he landed heavily on his knees beside his friend.

Sofia remained on her feet, not trusting herself to touch Sara right now. Instead, she continued to pace; repeatedly dragging a hand through her long tresses.

"I'll go clear the hall." She murmured at last, desperate to feel useful somehow.

Greg wiped at his eyes, although the effort was pointless as every tear he wiped away was quickly replaced.

"Is she going to be okay?" He gulped.

"She'll be fine, Greg." Cath assured him with a weak smile, although it was clear from her voice that she was struggling to convince even herself.  
He was watching the strawberry-blonde stroke Sara's damp hair, when his eyes shifted involuntarily to the area of milky skin bared to him.

Out of the corner of her eye, Catherine spotted his trembling hand reach out to graze a fading bruise on Sara's shoulder blade.

"Don't." She murmured, catching his gaze.

Greg froze, facing off with his supervisor for a long moment but not quite daring to ask the question that was burning on the tip of his tongue.

A clattering just outside the door broke their staring contest and they both glanced up in time to see two paramedics shuffling around the corner, followed closely by the rest of the team.

One of them stopped in the doorway, his eyes widening in horror.

X x x

"Sara!" Hank gasped, darting to her side and effectively shoving Greg out of the way in the process.

His mate, choosing to ignore her partner's sudden unprofessionalism, turned to the awaiting CSIs.

"We're going to need some space." She declared pointedly. She was a thirty-something Latino woman with a soft accent, but her blunt tone left no room for argument.

Understanding the request, Sofia took Greg by the arm and hauled him to his feet.

"Come on, let's leave them too it."

"I'll go find Grissom." Warrick declared, not willing to stand around idly waiting for news.

Catherine, however, didn't move. She was currently in the corner of the room, effectively pinned in by Sara's body and she had no intention of going anywhere.

Hank, busy monitoring her pulse, was oblivious to the narrowed blue eyes trained on his face. His colleague, on the other hand, wasn't. However, she opted to leave him to it for now and turned her attention to Catherine.

"Alright darling, my name's Nikki. Can you tell me what happened?" She asked calmly, kneeling beside Hank.

"I don't know, we think she must have slipped." Cath explained, feeling marginally more relieved by the woman's relaxed demeanour. Of course, she would be relaxed wouldn't she? She didn't know Sara.

"Alright. What's her name?"

Catherine opened her mouth to answer, but Hank beat her to it.

"Sara Sidle." He declared, not tearing his gaze from the patient. "She's 31, she takes contraceptives and B12 supplements. No other health issues."

Catherine and Nikki both blinked at him in surprise, but he was too busy checking over Sara to notice their bemusement.

He was carefully searching her body, just as Cath herself had, for any other injuries. In the back of her mind, Catherine wondered how many times Sara had let him touch her in the past. His hands were huge and strong against her slim frame; and yet his touch was gentle, tender even.

She couldn't help but compare this image to the idea of Kirsty – her touch so feminine and light – causing those dark rings around Sara's slender arms.

Shaking the thoughts away, Cath stood up and moved aside as the paramedics carefully rolled Sara onto her back and lifted her limp body onto the stretcher. Nikki tucked a blanket tightly around her before brushing aside the damp curls clinging to her pale skin.

Finally able to see her face, she realised where she recognised the patient from.

"Wasn't she your girlfriend?"

Hank's expression morphed into a mix of guilt and sadness. "Yeah." He mumbled, stroking her hair affectionately. "Yeah, she was."

X x x

The hallway remained blissfully clear thanks to Sofia's strict orders for everyone to stay in their labs until told otherwise.

Of course, in a building made of glass that didn't mean squat and numerous pairs of eyes peered curiously through the lab walls as the paramedics carried the stretcher towards the front doors.

Grissom, flanked by a breathless Warrick, practically jumped out at them as they passed his office.

"What happened?" He barked, attempting to reach for Sara's hand.

"She slipped; she's going to be alright." Sofia assured him, tactfully using her body to prevent him from touching the brunette. Nikki nodded gratefully at the police officer. As sympathetic as she was to the plight of friends and family, they didn't half make her job more difficult sometimes.

Nick held the front door open, guiding them down the concrete steps and into the awaiting ambulance.

Trailing closely behind, Greg continued to intermittently send Catherine suspicious glances in between staring at Sara's peaceful face.

"I'm going with her." He declared, already moving towards the ambulance.

"No Greg." Cath said, pulling him back by the wrist. However, the normally placid CSI was in no mood to obey orders today and he wrenched his arm free, sending her a dark look before climbing into the vehicle anyway.

"We can only take one person with her." Nikki pointed out, already clambering into the cab.

Catherine locked eyes with Hank, who offered a small nod of assurance to the blonde. He knew that she didn't like him, but that was no reason to cause her undue worry. Sara was in safe hands, that's all she needed to know.

Releasing a frustrated sigh, she stepped back and let them close the doors.

"Should we all go?" Nick asked once the flashing blue lights disappeared from view.

Cat turned, almost surprised to find all three men and Sofia staring at her expectantly, as if she should know what to do next.

"No." She breathed, stopping herself from running a hand through her hair when she caught sight of the blood staining her fingers. She dropped her hand to her side sadly, meeting Grissom's gaze at last. He looked lost, his baby-blue eyes wide and round with disquiet. "No, I'll go. You guys stay here and I'll call you as soon as there's some news."

Nick and Sofia clearly didn't look too thrilled with this arrangement, but Warrick and Grissom nodded in agreement.

"Good idea." Gil breathed. "Why don't you take some spare clothes for her as well?"

As if she'd anticipated the instruction, Sofia held out a carrier bag to the other woman. No one had seen her collect Sara's clothes from the bench, but then no one had really been paying attention to the detective.

"There's a shirt in there for Greg, too." She said before anyone could ask.

Catherine accepted it gratefully, offering the guys a weak nod before turning and walking numbly towards her car.

Everything suddenly felt oddly surreal, as if the last hour of her life had been nothing more than a warped dream.

But it wasn't a dream and, her argument with Sofia on hold for now, she was still faced with the task of explaining those bruises to Greg … hopefully before he came to his own conclusions about them.

X x x

He knew that his incessant foot-tapping must be annoying Hank, but he couldn't make it stop.

His instinctive protective nature around Sara was making him twitch every time the paramedic touched her, but he managed to restrain himself from batting his hand away.

After all, as much as he disliked Hank, the man was currently acting in a professional capacity not a romantic one.

Despite the blanket draped across her, the bruises were still visible on Sara's shoulders and arms. Where he was sat, he could just about reach her hand and had not let go of it since peeling out of the parking lot, but he wanted desperately to get a closer look at the marks marring his friend's skin.

What did Catherine know about them? And why hadn't she said anything sooner?

"ETA's three minutes." Nikki called from the driver's seat. "How's she doing?"

"Vitals are stable." Hank replied. "Her breathing's a little off though."

In response to the answer, she clicked the siren on for the final couple of miles. Greg could just barely hear her talking to someone on the radio, detailing the incoming case he assumed.

And before he knew it, the vehicle came to an abrupt halt and the doors flew open.

At Hank's impatient insistence, Greg was bundled out into the parking lot and forced to stand back while the two paramedics and a doctor unloaded the stretcher and lifted Sara onto a waiting trolley-bed.

"31 year old female, she was found unconscious at work; believed to have slipped getting out of the shower. Serious head wound and she's been unconscious for at least twenty minutes." Hank rattled off breathlessly. "Vitals are stable, BP and heart rate are all fine. Have blood on standby just in case - AB-neg."

Greg attempted to stick close to them as Sara was wheeled through the winding hallway of the ER, but he only made it as far as the trauma room before the door swung shut inches from his face.

Despondently, he threw his hands in the air and dropped heavily into a seat at the side of the corridor.

X x x

A familiar visitor to the hospital, it did not take Catherine long to locate her colleague.

"Hey," She cleared her throat, stalking up to Greg. "How is she?"

He sat up, folding his arms across his bare chest.

"She's okay. They're just moving her into a ward, then we can see her." He explained. "They said it looked worse than it was."

She nodded, relief seeping into her features. Reaching into the bag, she handed Greg the shirt Sofia had packed.  
Despite his caginess towards Catherine, he accepted to garment gladly. He'd initially forgotten about his state of undress, but sitting in the hallway in the busiest hospital department for any great period of time was enough to make anyone feel self-conscious.

"So, are you going to tell me?" He asked once he was suitably covered again. At her puzzled frown, he sat forward and rested his hands on his knees. "About the bruises. I know that you know something."

Her face paled slightly and she dropped slowly into the seat beside him, rubbing a tired hand over her face.

"Yeah, I do." She agreed quietly. "But I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because Sara asked me not to."

He shook his head, emitting a bitter laugh.

"Come on Catherine, I'm not blind. She's covered in them!" He paused, narrowing his eyes. "The bruises I saw in the decontamination shower … you already knew about them, didn't you? You lied to me."

She sucked in a deep breath at the obvious hurt in his voice. She had spent the whole drive over here debating how to broach the subject, but he clearly was not going to make it easy for her.

"Greg…" she began tentatively.

"There _is_ something going on isn't there?" He continued, raising his voice. "Catherine, tell me!"

She dropped her shoulders resignedly, sending a silent apology to Sara.

"Alright, there is something going on."


	19. A line shot up the middle look at him go

Before she could say any more, they were interrupted by the arrival of a young nurse.

"You can see Miss Sidle now." He offered a friendly smile, pointing them in the direction of the wards.

Greg sent Catherine a look which clearly said their conversation was not over yet, before rising to his feet and stalking in the direction of the cubicles.

X x x

Sara stirred at their entrance, attempting to lift her head before deciding it was too painful and giving up.

"Hey lady." Catherine smiled at the confused hazel eyes blinking up at her. "How do you feel?"

Sara shifted, kicking weakly at the blankets tangled around her legs.

"What happened?" She managed to mumble in a voice still thick with sleep.

Cath reached out a hand to graze the stark-white bandage covering half of her forehead.

"You slipped in the shower at work." She explained softly, letting her fingertips caress Sara's hair line. "You gave us all a bit of a fright, but the doctor said you're going to be fine. It's just a nasty concussion."

Sara nodded slowly, the events of the night slowly coming back to her.

"Slipped." She repeated under her breath.

"Hmm?" Cath inquired with a frown, having missed what she said.

"Never mind." Sara murmured, quickly changing the subject with a guilty smile. "Sorry I scared you."

Gradually becoming more alert with every passing second, she flicked her eyes around the tiny cubicle, catching sight of her other visitor for the first time.

"Hey Greg." Her voice brightened somewhat as she reached out towards him. Inching closer, he extended a shaky hand and gripped her fingers tightly, rubbing his thumb in small circles on the back of her knuckles. Even from her prone position, she could see the tears glistening in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

Catherine turned to the young man, an uncertain fear settling in the pit of her stomach at what he might say. Fortunately, he didn't look like he could say anything right now.

He was opening and closing his mouth, his wide dark eyes flicking between Sara's concerned face to her every inch of exposed skin he could see.

Interjecting, before he could say anything they'd both regret, Cath placed a firm hand on his shoulder and fixed Sara with a reassuring look.

"Nothing's wrong honey." She promised the young woman. "He's just a little shocked, that's all."

Sara's face paled a little and she held Greg's hand tighter.

"I'm fine." She assured him, attempting to catch his frenzied gaze. "Don't worry about me."

Deciding to put an end to the touching moment before Greg's bout of speechlessness wore off, Catherine gently encouraged him to let go of the brunette and suavely positioned her body between them.

"Well, we just wanted to see that you were okay." She smiled, stroking Sara's hair. "Someone will be back to drive you home in the morning; until then you just try to get some rest."

She leant down, pressing a kiss to the girl's cheek.

"I'll try." Sara smiled weakly, gesturing towards the pained howls coming from the next cubicle. If the sound alone was anything to go by, it would appear the young man was in labour.

As Catherine moved aside, Greg took her place and wrapped Sara into a fierce hug.

"I hope you feel better." He finally managed to whisper, inhaling the scent of her shampoo before reluctantly stepping away from the bed.

Before they even left the cubicle, Catherine noted how Sara's dark eyes were already starting to drift closed again. With an affectionate smile, she tugged the curtain closed around their friend for some privacy.

Now he was back in the cool corridor again, Greg sobered up and grabbed Cath lightly by the arm, swinging her around to face him.

"I still want an answer." He demanded.

Cath threw a glance back towards the curtain.

"Not here." She countered pointedly. Accepting the proposition, he nodded and allowed her to lead them back towards the parking lot in silence.

X x x

"Alright, she can't hear us now." He pointed out, coming to a sudden halt immediately outside the front doors. "So talk."

"Greg," Cath dropped her shoulders tiredly. "Can we at least get to the car?"

"No." He stood firm, folding his arms across his chest. "I want to know where those bruises came from. And if you don't tell me then I'll go back in there and ask her."

Realising that arguing with the stubborn young man would be futile right now and not wanting to risk him carrying through with his threat, she released a sigh.

"Alright, fine." She threw her hands up, walking back towards him in slow measured steps. "You want to know the truth?"

"Yeah." He tipped his head back slightly, a dubious look filling his dark eyes. Something about the woman's actions made his wonder if he really did want to hear this.

"Alright." She pursed her lips. "Sara's dating someone, a cop. They've been hurting her."

Greg's reaction was somewhat milder than she expected; he sucked in a deep breath, balling his hands into tight balls at his side but he managed not to make a sound for a whole minute.  
Cath thought he had handled the news remarkably well, until he suddenly whirled around and threw his fist at the wall, emitting an angry growl.

She jumped, instinctively reaching out towards him.

"Hey, hey!" She grabbed the shaking man by the shoulders, pulling him back and cradling his injured hand between her own. "Now you see why I couldn't tell you in there?"

He flicked his dark, brooding eyes to hers, ignoring the statement.

"Who is he?" He snarled, jerking away roughly.

"It's not that simple." She shook her head sadly. "It's … it's complicated."

Tiring of Catherine's reluctance to answer, he turned back towards the hospital with the intention of getting the information from the source itself.

"No Greg!" She barely managed to pull him back, hauling him away from the main doors. "Listen to me. It has taken weeks for her to trust me with this information. What do you think she'll do if she finds out that I told you?"

"I don't care!" He wrenched his arm free, but she quickly caught it again.

"Well I do." She snapped. "Look, for the time being she's doing okay. Every time Kirsty hits her she tells me and I deal with it."

The shocked confusion on Greg's face registered long before she realised what she'd actually said.

"Kirsty?" He repeated quietly, relaxing slightly in her hold. "It's a woman?"

Cath chewed on her lower lip anxiously, offering a meek nod.

"Yeah, it is." She agreed quietly. "Which is exactly why you can't go running your mouth off about this to anyone."

"But … how?" He stuttered.

"Women can be abusers too, Greg." She explained sadly.

"I know that." He scoffed, shaking his head against the tears that had begun to form again. "But, Sara's so strong. She wouldn't…"

"She's not as strong as people think." Catherine countered. "She's only human."

"Why wouldn't she tell me?" He squeaked, leaning his back against the cold wall. "I'm her best friend; she could have told me this. I wouldn't care that she's a …"

"I know." She hummed, thinking back to her own conversation with Sara about the matter. "I think she's had a few bad experiences with coming out to people in the past."

Now that she thought about it, she had never actually got an answer to that question.

Greg blinked at her, indignant anger seeping into his features. It was a strange look on the normally docile young man.

"I'm her best friend." He repeated. "I don't care who she dates!"

"I know, neither do I." Cath hissed, resenting the implication that this might have something to do with her lack of action on the matter. "But without knowing what she's been through there's no way to know why she didn't tell us."

He released a shaky breath, absently stoking his grazed knuckles.

"So, this Kirsty." He spat, already disliking the way her name felt on his lips. "What's the deal?"

"She's got a temper. Sara said something about her getting help for it, but I don't think it's proving very effective." Cath shook her blonde hair out. "Right now, I think Sara's just scared about what repercussion there might be if she ends things."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Kirsty's a cop. She knows Sara's friends, she knows a lot about her job."

"So, you're letting this happen because Sara's scared that Kirsty might out her?"

"I'm protecting her privacy." Cath countered through gritted teeth. Greg laughed humourlessly, pushing past her towards the parking lot.

"Yeah, well you keep doing that." He waved a hand at her. "I'm going to protect _Sara_."

"Greg, you can't tell anyone about this!" She hollered, jogging to catch him up. It briefly crossed her mind that he didn't have a car with him, but that didn't seem to matter as he made a beeline for the line of awaiting cabs outside the ER.

"Watch me!" He barked in return, throwing one of the taxi doors open. "You might be able to live with what that woman's doing to her, but I can't."

X x x

It would have been a hell of a lot easier to find him if she'd known what he was planning to do.

Initially she assumed he would go to Grissom, so she'd been heading there. However, half way back to the lab she recalled a conversation she'd had earlier in the night.

Greg, like Sofia had been, was riled and too impatient to wait for Grissom to get his ass in gear. Greg wanted something done now.

He was going to Jim.

Thankfully, the lab and the station were not that far apart and with one daring swerve into another lane she was heading in the right direction again.

X x x

He could hear her voice bellowing his name down the hall, but he didn't stop. He had one hand raised to knock on the door, when a heavy weight tackled him against the wall.

"Listen, I know that you think that you're doing the right thing; but this is not what Sara wants." Catherine gushed, pinning the small man firmly against the glass.

Winded by her assault, his pathetic attempt to free himself had little effect on her fierce grip.

"I don't care what Sara wants right now." He hissed. "I cannot stand back and watch this happen to her!"

"Hey, neither can I." She agreed earnestly. "But if you go charging in there you're going to do more damage than good. Sara will never forgive you."

"She'll understand." He insisted.

"No, she won't." Cath challenged firmly. "If you out her to the whole station, I can tell you right now that she will walk out of here and never come back."

That, at least, finally seemed to get through to him and she relaxed her hold enough for him to free himself.

"I can't believe that you're willing to let this happen." He shook his head in disgust.

"Greg," Cath sighed, casting a furtive glance around them. Apart from a few lingering cops sending them suspicious looks, the hall was fairly empty. "Look, when I was still with Eddie do you think people didn't tell me to leave him?" She asked, holding his gaze. "He was abusive, and he was mean. But I stayed with him because I thought I could handle him."

"That's not the same." He shook his head in perplexity.

"Yes, it is." She scowled. "Sara will not take kindly to people telling her how to run her own love life." She paused, throwing up a helpless shrug. "I already tried."

He met her eyes again, some of the fight draining out of him at the realisation that this had probably been going on for longer than he'd initially assumed.

"So what do we do?" He asked sadly.

"We keep trying to find a way to get through to her." Catherine shrugged. "Other than that, all we can do is keep a close eye on her and try not to give Kirsty any reason to hurt her. No phone calls to her flat, no suspicious text messages …"

"Alright, I get it." He nodded, straightening up. "But I don't like it."

"Me neither Greg." She agreed. "But it's our only choice until she wants our help."

He nodded slowly, running a hand through his hair. It was still greasy from his scene. He still hadn't had a shower yet.

"Well, I'd better…" he gestured weakly towards the front doors. "I told Nick and Warrick I'd let them know how she was."

"Yeah, okay." She stepped aside, watching him slope miserably down the hall.

She still wasn't convinced that he understood Sara's motives for keeping quiet, but she trusted him to keep his mouth shut for the time being at least.

As soon as she could have a proper talk with him in private, she would explain things better. Maybe the two of them together would be able to come up with a solution.

Releasing a deep breath, she flicked her eyes to the office she was lurking outside. Jim was at his desk, oblivious to the kerfuffle that had just occurred outside his door. She could certainly understand Greg's actions, even if she knew they wouldn't help right now.

"Is that what you had planned for me, too?" A cold voice inquired from somewhere nearby. "Rugby tackling me into a wall?"

Cath winced, instantly recognising the sound of those heels as they slowly approached her.

Sofia came to a stop directly behind her and leant forward, so her breath tickled the back of the CSI's neck.

"I believe you and I have some unfinished business."

Cath dropped her shoulders despondently.

She just could not catch a break today.


	20. Closer to you now than any other boy

**Not my best work, but let me know what you think anyway**

**x x x x**

"Alright, before you even say it …"

"I wasn't going to." Sofia countered before Cath could finish her sentence. The older woman frowned, letting her outstretched hand drop limply to her side as her defensive mood dissipated.

The detective moved around her desk, retrieving a small stack of folders and handing them to her colleague.

"When I left your office, you thought I was going to see Jim." She stated knowingly. "I wasn't. I was coming to get these."

"What are they?" Cath asked, lowering herself slowly into the chair opposite the desk and tracing the Las Vegas Police logo embossed on the front of the brown folder.

"That is Kirsty Soames' jacket." Sofia explained, perching on the edge of the desk. "Assaults, battery, abuse of power. I have seen this woman take down male suspects better than most male cops here." She paused, taking a deep breath. "She is a very unstable person."

"Wow." Cath hummed, glancing down at the files again before deciding that she really didn't want to know the details and sliding them back onto the desk. "How did she even get onto the force with such a shaky mental state? Surely that's what the psychiatric tests are for?"

"Some people can beat them." Sofia shrugged flippantly. "And she is a good cop, when she's acting rationally."

"Yeah, just like she's a good girlfriend when she's not beating Sara black and blue." Cath muttered, looking away.

Sofia pursed her lips, electing not to answer that. Instead, she shifted slightly in order to better face her colleague.

"I warned Sara about her."

Cath blinked, surprised by this piece of information – something which Sara had neglected to mention, she noted. However, she covered her surprise quickly.

"Well your warning came too late, because this has been going on for a while now."

"How long?" Sofia asked, her steely blue eyes boring into the other woman's face. Catherine shrugged helplessly.

"I've known for about three months, but it's been going on for longer than that."

"Three months?" Sofia repeated, curling her nose up in disgust. "And you didn't do anything about it?"

"I tried." Cath snapped, resenting the accusation. "I've been keeping tabs on her, making sure she talks to me about what's happening. I've been trying to help her."

Rolling her eyes, Sofia picked up the folders again and dumped them unceremoniously in Catherine's lap, before walking around her desk and sinking into the chair.

"Why are you showing me these?" Catherine asked at last, tapping the cover lightly.

"Because I want you to see firsthand what that woman is capable of."

Cath scoffed, shaking her head.

"I've seen it." She pointed out bluntly. "Hell, I probably know better than you what she can do."

"No, you don't." Sofia countered irately. "If you knew the extent of what this woman is capable of then you wouldn't leave Sara alone with her for a second." She paused, licking her lips slowly. "But, I do agree with you."

This unexpected turn in the conversation perplexed Cath, who could only shake her head in loss.

"You do?"

"Yeah," Sofia laughed dryly, drumming her long fingernails on the table in thought. "Go figure, huh?" She cleared her throat, shifting her gaze back to Catherine's face. "I agree that we shouldn't give Kirsty any reason to hurt Sara."

Catherine knew Sofia well enough to know when she was trying to make a point. Sitting back in the chair with a suspicious look, she raised an impatient eyebrow.

"What are you getting at, Sofia?"

"I want you to leave Sara alone."

Nothing like getting straight to the point, evidently.

A startled laugh bubbled out of Catherine, quickly replaced by a look of disbelief.

"You what?"

"You heard me." Sofia flexed her hands as she spoke, cracking each knuckle in turn. Catherine wasn't sure whether it was a subtle threat, or just a bad habit but either way the sound made her wince. "I don't know what's going on between you two, but I know that she doesn't need the confusion in her life right now."

"What confusion?" Cath asked, standing up and throwing her hands out to the side as she began to pace.

Sofia stood up too, her blue eyes wide and alive with fury.

"Sara does not need people in her life making things harder for her right now, Catherine." She insisted.

"I'm trying to help her!" Cath reiterated firmly. "How is that making things harder?"

"I know you Catherine. And I know Sara." Sofia stated coolly, dropping her voice a little. "What you're doing, whatever your intentions might be, is not helping her."

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I would never put Sara at risk. I love that girl."

"Yeah, I know." Sofia hissed. "That's precisely the problem."

Fed up of these ambiguous remarks, Catherine stepped around the desk until her face was inches from the detective's.

"You have no idea what you're talking about. And if you think I'm walking away from Sara now, then you don't know me at all."

She turned on her heel, stalking to the door.

"Be careful Catherine," Sofia's voice trailed after her. "Don't play games with her."

Cath hesitated in the doorway for a few seconds, her back to the other woman, before walking out without saying a word.

Outside the office, she ran a hand through her hair.

Sofia was wrong. She was … mad, even. How could she possibly think that Cath had some sort of ulterior motive in trying to help Sara? She would always be there for her friends when they needed her.

But something the detective had said didn't quite sit right with her; she just couldn't put her finger on why that was.

X x x

"Hey, you're looking better." Cath greeted, smiling brightly as she entered the small cubicle.

Sara, already wearing the clothes that Cath had brought with her the previous night, rolled her eyes.

"I appreciate the effort, but you're not a good liar." She joked light-heartedly, earning her a gentle slap on the arm.

Admittedly, the large white piece of gauze taped to her forehead was a bit of a giveaway, but other than that she _was_ looking better.

Despite the brunette's obvious desire to leave the hospital as soon as possible, Cath was in no particular hurry. She hopped onto the bed, taking Sara's hand in her own.

"You feeling okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I guess." Sara shifted uncomfortably on the bed, pulling her knees up to her chest. "Just a headache."

"Yeah, well. I'm not surprised." Cath hummed, reaching up to stroke her hair affectionately. "You're going to be okay though."

Sara nodded, smiling at her friend gratefully.

"Have you heard anything from Kirsty?" The supervisor asked, her voice taking on a different tone as her gaze fell naturally onto their conjoined hands.

"No." Sara dropped her head to hide the guilty look in her eyes.

"Have you had any more thoughts about …"

"Don't."

Cath wanted to hear the answer, but the look in Sara's eye warned her not to push the issue. Sliding off the bed, she brushed herself off and held out her hands. "Come on," she smiled, helping Sara down and slinging an arm around her shoulders. "Let's get you home."

X x x

Catherine felt like she was suffering déjà vu. She was in the same booth, staring nervously out of the same window across the same parking lot, waiting anxiously for someone who she didn't expect to turn up.

To her relief, when the door to Frank's swung open, Greg shuffled in and dropped into the seat opposite her, keeping his gaze averted.

"Sara's back home?" He assumed quietly, electing to forgo the pleasantries.

"Yeah, I just dropped her off." Cath nodded, nudging a cup of coffee towards him. He accepted it somewhat reluctantly, dragging his fingertip around the rim of the chipped mug.

"Was Kirsty there?"

"No." She shook her head. "She probably knew better than to show up at the same time as one of us."

He nodded slowly, sinking his gaze into the black liquid swirling around his cup.

He knew why Catherine had asked him here – she wanted to talk about Sara. But something else had been playing on his mind as well since their last conversation.

"Hey Catherine, what you said … about Eddie?" She flicked her eyes across the table towards him, but he was staring at his hands, which were now toying nervously with a napkin.

"What about it?" She pressed when he didn't speak again.

"Well, was it true? He used to hurt you?"

"Yeah." She licked her lips, dropping her gaze. "Sometimes."

"And the rest of the team knew?"

"Yeah, they knew." She nodded. "They tried to make me see sense, but I was too stubborn." She emitted a humorless laugh, biting her lower lip in concentrated recollection. "Nick actually took me aside one day and begged me to walk away from him after her saw one of the bruises Ed had left on me."

"So, why didn't you?" Greg asked quietly, meeting her gaze and willing himself to hold it this time.

"Because I thought I could handle Eddie." She sighed, throwing her hands up. "Abusers have a way of making you feel like you don't have the right to walk away from them."

"Yeah, but … when all your friends are telling you to…"

"It doesn't matter." She cut him off. "Greg, after a while even the boys stopped asking. Once, not long after Lindsey was born, we got into a fight. He grabbed me, tried to strangle me…" she swallowed hard, her hand stroking the back of her neck absently. "When I came into work the next day, they were all watching me, pitying me. But none of them said a word to me about it. And none of them said anything about Eddie after that day. I guess they got tired of waiting for me to accept that they were right."

"Wow." He dropped his head sadly. "I had no idea."

"Yeah, well." She shrugged meekly, clearing her throat. "Anyway, the point is I understand Sara's mindset right now and as much as she wants to leave Kirsty, she won't as long as Kirsty holds the cards."

"Well, there must be something we can do." He insisted, leaning forwards.

"Yeah." Cath licked her lips, mimicking his actions. "One day, Sara will be ready to turn the tables on this relationship. And when she does, we're going to do what we do best – we're going to present the evidence."

"What evidence?" He shook his head. "Won't it be our word against hers?"

Silently, Catherine produced her phone and tapped a few buttons before turning it around to face Greg.

He winced at the image of Sara's back presented to him, marred with dark mottled bruises.

"What is this?" He whispered, taking the phone and scanning through the other similar photos.

Her shoulders, her arms, her hips … bruised and beaten, and every colour of the rainbow.

Catherine pursed her lips, folding her hands carefully on the table.

"Proof."


	21. Oh give me just another moment

**For those interested, I can now tell you that the fire scene is in chapter 25, so not long to go **** :) But there will be much more drama before that!**

**x x x x**

Sara jumped at the sound of the front door opening, rising quickly to her feet.

Kirsty walked into the flat, placing her keys onto the bench and stripping her jacket off in slow, measured movements. She knew Sara was watching her, waiting for her to say something. To offer a comment on the bandage on her forehead, she guessed.

"Hi." Sara said at last, fed up of the deathly silence hanging between them. Finally, Kirsty turned towards her with a steely expression.

"Hey." She greeted coolly. "That looks painful."

Sara touched the wound instinctively, offering a meek nod.

"It's okay." She shrugged. "I fell."

"Yeah, I know." Kirsty pursed her lips, casting a lazy glance around the room, oblivious to Sara's brief panicked look. "I called the lab, they said you'd been taken to hospital." She flicked her eyes back to her girlfriend's. "Nasty fall was it?"

Sara swallowed hard, resisting the urge to take a step back. Any sign of weakness now would not play in her favour.

"So," Kirsty continued, moving closer. "Who brought you home? Catherine, was it?"

"Yeah." She straightened up a little at the simple mention of the blonde's name. "I didn't tell her, if that's what you're wondering."

"Tell her what, Sara?" Kirsty took a threatening step towards her. "That I pushed you?"

Sara pursed her lips, not daring to admit it out loud; although it was clear from the look on her face what she was getting at.

Kirsty kept moving until they were barely an inch apart, when her hands darted out and she shoved Sara roughly backwards.

Her heart skipped a beat and she threw her hands out behind her instinctively to break her fall, her stomach continuing to lurch even after she had landed safely on the couch. Kirsty laughed, leaning down to rest her hands on Sara's knees.

"You've got no proof." She hissed.

Sara's eyes darted involuntarily towards her work bag, sitting innocently on the kitchen counter.

Kirsty's sharp gaze caught the movement and a smirk spread across her ruby lips.

Pushing herself off of Sara's legs, she walked slowly towards the bag and tipped it upside down, watching with glee as the contents spilled across the floor.

Keys, loose change, make-up, a hair brush and a whole host of other items scattered across the wooden floor.

But no file.

"Oh, what's the matter?" She asked smarmily at Sara's dismayed expression. "Missing something?"

Sara flicked her eyes up, anger seeping into the dark orbs.

"What have you done with it?"

Throwing the now-empty bag down on top of everything else, she produced the missing file from her own handbag and walked back to the couch, standing directly over Sara and holding her gaze firmly.

"It was a nice try." She conceded. "You certainly did your research. But it's too late."

With a firm tug, she managed to rip the whole folder in half, tossing both pieces into a nearby trash can. Then, with an unnaturally steady hand, she produced a lighter, lit it and tossed it into the bin.

The paper took instantly, burning with a bright orange flame.

Sara's eyes glistened in the flickering light. Kirsty leant down close to her ear, her breath grazing the sensitive skin there.

"Next time you try to corner me, you remember this." She stroked Sara's face with an unexpected gentleness, sliding onto the woman's lap and blocking her view of the burning folder. "Now, you and I are going to start again."

Sara swallowed hard, shaking her head against the tears stinging at her eyes. She was trapped.

Kirsty leant forward, stealing a kiss from her trembling girlfriend.

"Isn't that right, baby?"

X x x

"Take it off." Catherine instructed quietly. Her voice was oddly empty, but there was a deep sympathy hidden in her eyes.

Sara did as requested, wincing as she slipped out of her shirt.

Catherine bit her lower lip, shaking her head sadly at the bruises that swam into her view.

Blinking hard against the tears that invariably started to form in her eyes, she raised her phone and began taking photos.

Neither ever spoke during these times. Likewise, Catherine always resisted the urge to touch Sara. The only way she could do this, to take these pictures of her friend's battered body, was to pretend that this was just another case. By keeping a physical distance between herself and Sara, she could convince herself that she was just another victim.

There was a knock at the door and both women turned in shocked unison at the realisation that neither of them had locked it.

Before they could do anything about their compromising position, the door swung open and Greg strolled in.

"Hey Cath, I've…" He trailed off, his eyes settling on Sara's exposed skin as the brunette hurriedly attempted to cover herself up.

To her surprise, he flicked his eyes to Catherine's in horror.

"Not again!"

A panicked Sara whirled on Catherine, who was looking sheepishly between the two of them.

"He knows?"

"Yeah, he does." She shifted awkwardly, catching Sara's arm before she could run away. "Listen, it's okay. He's not going to tell anyone. Are you?"

Greg didn't even seem to be listening, his eyes still searching whatever skin he could see. He looked pale, visibly nauseas.

"I can't do this." He murmured tearfully, stumbling back out of the door.

Sara bolted after him, barely managing to button up her shirt before making it into the hall.

"Sara, wait!" Catherine hollered after her, but her plea went unheard.

Ignoring the bemused looks from the lab rats, she caught his arm just outside the break room and forcibly hurled him into the far side of the corridor.

"Sara!" He gasped, winded. "You have to tell them!"

She glanced across the hall into the break room, where Nick and Warrick were messing around obliviously.

"They can't." she insisted, turning back to him with a desperate look. "Please Greg, don't do this."

Despite his best efforts, the young man felt his resolve waning as he stared into her pleading hazel eyes.

"Sara, you can't let her get away with this." He insisted, lowering his voice.

She dropped her eyes sadly.

"How much did Cath tell you?"

"Everything." He straightened up a little. "But only because I made her. I saw the bruises on you when you slipped in the shower."

"Oh, God." She ran a hand through her hair, letting her eyes drift towards the ceiling. "You of all people weren't meant to find out."

He frowned, not sure whether to take offence at that.

However, before he could question the remark, Grissom wandered out of his office.

"Ah, good." He announced strolling up to them. "You two have a double homicide in Summerlin." He handed Sara the assignment slip with a bright smile. "Take Catherine."

Greg could kiss his supervisor right now.

Sara, in comparison, looked like she was trying to kill him with her eyes.

X x x

This day just kept getting worse for Sara.

If it wasn't bad enough that she was working with Catherine and Greg, the EMTs were still at the scene when they arrived.

And guess which EMT in particular was lurking outside his rig?

He spotted the brunette as soon as she got out of the car and began making a beeline for her, but she quickly diverted around the lingering cops into the house. Behind her, she heard Cath mutter an expletive under her breath, as she too spotted Hank's approach.

"Greg," the older woman ordered. "You talk to the EMTs."

He looked across the parking lot and his shoulders drooped sadly, but he accepted the task with no complaint and heaved his kit towards them.

"Hank." He greeted coolly.

"I want to talk to her." The EMT jumped in straight away, earning him an odd look from his partner. It wasn't Nikki this time. Instead, a tall balding man in his late fifties was paired with the familiar paramedic.

"Tough." Greg stated calmly, unclipping his kit and taking out his torch. "I need to see your boots."

X x x

Sara kept her head low as she scoured the kitchen surfaces for signs of prints, determinedly avoiding eye contact with everyone who came near her.

It had not gone unnoticed by her that Catherine had yet to inquire how she had gotten her latest bruises; and that was not a conversation she was looking forward to.

She was also well aware that Hank was still on the premises and, if what Greg had told her was true, she had a pretty good idea what he wanted to talk to her about.

It had unnerved her enough to discover that her ex had been the one hauling her unconscious ass into the ambulance. To find out that he also probably knew about her injuries … well, that was a realisation she could have done without.

She heard his footsteps enter the room long before he actually dared approach her, but she kept her back turned. She hoped that the longer she ignored him, the more likely he was to leave her alone.

"Hey Sara," He cleared his throat nervously, effectively shattering her theory to pieces. "Can I have a minute?"

"I'm working." She pointed out bluntly.

"I know, but this is important."

Finally stopping what she was doing, she turned to meet his gaze.

"I have nothing to say to you." She stated calmly, attempting to walk around him towards the kitchen cupboards.

He grabbed her arm, eliciting a sharp intake of breath from the girl.

"Let go of me." She stated through gritted teeth.

"Sara please," he hadn't meant for it to come out so needy; he was not a man who usually begged people for anything but this woman had a way of bringing it out in him. "Just give me a minute."

"Not now Hank." She attempted to shake him off, with little effect at first. "I'm busy."

When she finally managed to free herself, he quickly reached out for her again and in her effort to avoid him she accidently fell back into the kitchen counter.

He cast an anxious glance around them, noting with dismay that Catherine was watching them guardedly from across the room.

Deciding it was in his best interests right now to keep his hands to himself; he leant down to her and lowered his voice.

"It'll only take a minute." He reiterated.

X x x

Catherine cast a casual glance across the room and froze. In the kitchen Hank had finally succeeded in collaring Sara, despite the brunette's best efforts. He appeared to have a fairly tight grip on her wrist, a sight which instantly set the older woman on edge. She had forgotten how tall he was; he towered over Sara.

Putting down her camera, she stood up and started towards them, intent on prising his slimy hands off her by any means necessary, when Sara seemed to take care of the situation all by herself.

However, her attempt backfired slightly and she had to steady herself on the counter.

Cath paused, eyeing the situation carefully from a distance. There were cops everywhere – including Brass. The last thing she wanted to do to Sara now was create a scene.

Hank said something else that she didn't catch, but the brunette's response was plain enough.

She launched herself off the counter and darted into the back yard, leaving Hank stood alone with his hands outstretched helplessly.

"Sara, baby!" He called out weakly.

Catherine strolled towards the doors after her colleague, deliberately brushing past him on the way.

"She's not your baby anymore." She pointed out with a harsh tone, shooting him a sly glare.

"I didn't touch her." He said, a little more defensively than he'd intended.

"I saw." She retorted coolly, stalking after Sara and leaving him alone in her wake.

X x x

"Hey." She greeted softly, not wanting to startle the younger woman further. "You alright?"

Sara turned, using her sleeves to wipe at her eyes.

"Why did you have to tell Greg?" She hiccupped weakly.

Cath softened her gaze, walking closer with outstretched arms.

"He already knew. I just filled in the blanks." She explained, tentatively wrapping Sara into a hug. "I'm sorry honey; I know you didn't want anyone to find out. But he cares about you. He wants to help."

"I know." Sara buried her face in Catherine's neck, inhaling the scent of her hair. She was well aware that they were still at a scene and if anyone saw them now it would look highly suspicious, but she didn't want to let go of her.

"What did Hank want?" Cath asked at last, pulling back and reaching up to tuck a perpetually loose strand of hair behind Sara's ear.

"The same thing Greg went to you for. He wants to know where the bruises are from."

"Did you tell him?"

Sara gave her a look.

"Did it look like I told him?" She asked rhetorically.

Cath smiled, glad to see a hint of the old, sarcastic Sara, even if it was only a brief glimpse.

And, for some reason, it comforted her to know that Hank was still in the dark about Kirsty. Something about the way he was with Sara in the shower room had left her feeling unsettled. He had known so much about her.

The rational part of her brain kept reminding her that Sara and Hank had been together for a while and it made sense that he would know what sort of medication she took. However, the irrational, emotional part of her was bothered by the thought that he was privy to such personal knowledge.

Sara was _her_ friend. As selfish as it may sound, if anyone should know that information,_ she _should_.  
_


	22. And I'm drowning in your love it seems

Sara flinched involuntarily at the feather-light touch against her arm.

"Hey." Kirsty smiled, rounding the couch. "You look lost?"

Sara offered a meek smile, her shoulders tensing imperceptibly at their sudden close proximity.

"Yeah, sorry." She shrugged. "I was just … thinking."

"Yeah?" Kirsty queried, dropping onto the sofa beside her. "Well, me too actually."

Sara quirked an eyebrow at her curiously, shifting in order to better face her. The dark skinned woman licked her lips in thought, taking a moment to choose her words carefully as she absently placed a hand on Sara's thigh and began drawing circles through the tight jeans.

"I guess you could say I've done some soul searching." She laughed nervously at last. "I just wanted to say thank you, for sticking by me. I know it hasn't been easy."

Sara swallowed hard, nodding carefully but opting not to comment at this point.

"I know things have been difficult between us," she continued, reaching out to grip her girlfriend's hand. Sara resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the understatement; difficult was not quite the word she would use… "But I really think we can make it work now. You know, I'm getting help. And with your support - I really think I can change."

Sara sensed that she was expected to say something here, but she had very little to offer. Clearing her throat, she straightened up a little in her seat.

"Good. I'm glad, you know, that you're getting help."

It was true to say that Kirsty had reined her temper in a bit in recent weeks. She hadn't hit Sara since the incident in the shower room – something which still remained a dark secret between the two of them – but that didn't make Sara any more inclined to trust her. A part of her wondered if the only reason Kirsty was being so nice was due to her own concerted efforts to pretend everything was fine and dandy.

Kirsty smiled, squeezing her thigh tighter. It was a familiar smile, bright and warm; like she used to wear when things were still good between them.

"You know, you're the only person who understands me." She said softly. "You know what it's like to grow up in that kind of home."

Sara blanched at the turn in conversation and all she could offer was a small noise of agreement. She didn't like talking to Kirsty about her family.

She didn't really like talking to anyone about it.

"Once when I was ten, my mother took me to the hospital with a broken collar bone." The woman continued, her voice becoming distant and contemplative as her brow furrowed in transcendental thought. "Needless to say, it was my father. I remember begging her to tell the doctors the truth. But she wouldn't. She said I fell off my bike. She was actually laughing with the doctors about it – 'kids, eh. Always so careless'."

Seeing where this was going, Sara gripped her fingers and attempted to change the subject back.

"You know I'll stand by you, as long as you keep getting help." She assured her, though somewhat reluctantly.

Snapping back to the present, Kirsty nodded fervently, darting forward to steal a kiss.

"I can't believe how lucky I am to have you."

At the awkward silence that followed, she shook her thick hair out and cleared her throat, attempting to lighten the tone a little.

"How about I make you dinner? My way of saying thanks."

Sara nodded gratefully; watching as her partner practically flounced across the apartment and began rifling through the cupboards for something to make.

Her stomach had knotted uncomfortably and it remained that way long after the conversation ended. Initially she had convinced herself that she was doing the right thing; by standing by Kirsty, supporting her, she could make her a better person.  
She couldn't in good conscience walk away from her now, not when she was just gleaming some sense of mental stability again.

However, she felt guilty at the same time. True to her somewhat-threatening promise, Kirsty had been the model girlfriend ever since _that_ incident. But all Sara though about, day-in day-out, was how she was going to leave her. How, one day, she would walk away from this manipulative controlling relationship and never look back.

X x x

"Why did you warn her against Kirsty?"

The question, asked without preamble or warning, seemed to take both women by surprise. Catherine hadn't even realised her internal musings had voiced themselves until Sofia sent her a bemused look across the apartment they were currently searching.

"You said that you warned Sara about Kirsty. Why?" Cath put down her flashlight and walked slowly across the room towards her, deciding that she may as well get an answer now that she'd put the question out there.

Sofia abandoned the victim's mail she was rifling through and leant against the table.

"Because I knew, well I suspected that something was going on between them and I know what Kirsty's like."

"What do you mean?"

"Catherine," Sofia tilted her head back, sucking in a deep breath. "I've seen Kirsty at work. She's … violent. I mean, I've seen this woman take out grown men without a moment's hesitation." She paused, shaking her head sadly. "Sara's tough, but even she couldn't fight Kirsty Soames off."

Cath nodded slowly, diligently picking apart the detective's explanation in her mind.

"So, you already knew that Sara dates women?" She queried eventually, her brow furrowing further in confusion.

She had to admit that the thought of Sara choosing to confide in Sofia over her stung more than a little. Unless…

"Yeah," the detective licked her lips. "Sara and I sort of had a thing, a while ago."

"You … and Sara?" Catherine repeated, stunned.

"It was nothing really, just a fling." Sofia explained hurriedly, holding her hands up defensively. "It was when I was still on Days."

"Huh." Cath nodded, casting her gaze languidly across the small flat. "She never told me." The quiet confession came out more hurt than she'd intended, but she couldn't deny the small tingle of insult at being kept in the dark about this.

"Why should she?" Sofia shrugged, picking up on the other woman's mood. "It's not like we're still together. We barely even speak anymore."

Catherine turned her eyes back to the cop, scrutinising her closely.

It was no secret that Sofia Curtis was not her favourite person to work with and that was probably the main reason Cath had never really taken the time to read her properly.

She could see it now, the vulnerability behind her steely blue gaze. The secret lurking behind every smart-ass answer balanced on the tip of her tongue.

There was more to this woman than initially met the eye.

"It didn't end well, did it?" She asked, softening her voice.

Sofia paled ever so slightly at the question and shook her head, pursing her lips tightly.

"It doesn't matter." She said, a little too harshly. "What happened between Sara and I is done."

Sensing that she'd hit a nerve, Catherine swiftly dropped the subject. For now, at least.

"So, what's your plan to help Sara?" She breathed. "Since you obviously think mine isn't working."

"It's not up to us to do anything." Sofia turned her back, returning to her previous task of sifting through the victim's backed-up collection of junk mail and bills. "Nothing we could do will make her end things with Kirsty any faster."

Cath frowned, shaking her head in disagreement.

"You don't know that."

"I know Sara." The detective exhaled impatiently. "And I know that the more you push her the more she'll pull away."

"Yeah." Catherine rolled her eyes. That was a given about the stubborn brunette, but it still wasn't the answer she was looking for. "So you're suggesting that we leave her to get beaten?"

"I never said that." Sofia countered calmly. "All I said was that you were too close and that you needed to back off."

Catherine, fed up of not getting a straight answer, released a frustrated sigh and stropped closer.

"Well maybe you don't know Sara as well as you think, because until a few weeks ago she was all set to end things."

This new piece of information seemed to catch the younger woman's attention and she turned, a softer look on her face this time.

"Why, what happened?"

"I don't know." Cath dropped despondently into a chair, running a hand through her long locks. "She told me that she'd had enough and she was going to end it. But then she never did, and when I asked why she couldn't tell me. Or wouldn't tell me."

"What _did _she tell you?" Sofia pressed, joining her in the living area of the small room. Technically they weren't meant to sit on the furniture at crime scenes in case they contaminated evidence, but what the hell; they weren't likely to be fibre taping the chairs anyway.

"Nothing." She threw her hands out helplessly, briefly catching Sofia's eye before averting her gaze back to her fidgeting hands folded in her lap. "Just that she couldn't explain it."

Sofia sat back, considering this. She had noticed the unexpected closeness that had developed between Catherine and her ex, seemingly overnight, and she didn't like it. She'd even tried to ask Sara about it, to no avail.

And, having cornered Cath in her office and finally gotten to the bottom of the matter, she was even more unsettled by it. Sara was in a dangerous enough situation, without throwing a third person into the already-complicated relationship.

But perhaps Catherine was the key to getting through the Sara after all.

"She wanted to talk to me." Cath suddenly remembered, snapping Sofia back to the conversation.

"What?" She questioned, not following the CSI's train of thought.

"The night she fell in the shower, she called me and asked if we could talk. She wanted my help with something."

"Did she say what?" Sofia sat forward with interest, resting her elbows on her knees.

"No." Cath shook her head glumly. "Just that it was important and she couldn't do it without me."

"Maybe she _was_ going to end it." She theorised, attempted to suppress the feelings of jealously that were stirring in the pit of her stomach again.

"Yeah, maybe." Cath breathed, furrowing her brow. "So, why didn't she?"

X x x

"Hmm."

Sara glanced down at the contented hum, scowling softly.

"What?"

Kirsty, leaning heavily against her shoulder, lifted her head and smiled.

"Nothing." She pressed a kiss to Sara's cheek. "I was just thinking about how much I adore you."

Sara shifted, attempting a smile and instead offering what could only be described as a grimace. She hated when Kirsty did this. It made her sick to utter the same words of affection back, knowing that they were lies, and it was getting harder and harder to change the subject.

Thankfully, Kirsty took the situation out of her hands this time as she stood up and stretched, revealing her strong stomach muscles underneath her thin t-shirt.

"I'll be right back." She kissed Sara again and moved towards the bathroom.

However, as she passed by the phone it started to ring.

Sara's heart leapt to her throat, as it had taken to doing the past couple of weeks.

Kirsty glanced at the small flashing screen, her face contorting into an expression of confusion.

"It's … Hank?"

Sara swallowed.

"Oh, it's work." She lied, springing to her feet to snatch the handset up before Kirsty could answer on her behalf.

"Well, tell them that you can't come in tonight." Kirsty winked, dragging a hand lovingly through Sara's hair. "Tonight, you're mine."

Sara faked a smile again, waiting until the bathroom door was firmly shut before she lifted the phone to her ear.

"I told you to stop calling me." She hissed, not giving him a chance to speak.

"Sara, I know something's going on. I just want to talk to you." The paramedic insisted. "Please, can I come over?"

"No!"

"Alright, then can we meet somewhere? I really need to see you."

She forcefully swallowed back the tears threatening to fall, but her voice still came out desperate and pleading as she slid down against the kitchen counter, her gaze seeking out the closed bathroom door.

"Please Hank; if you care about me at all, just leave me alone."

**x x x x**

**Hope you're all still enjoying it. Big thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! x**


	23. The guitar bled for a week afterward

**Sorry for the delay in getting this up, but I wanted to get it right**

**I know it's very long, but I hope you like it x**

**x x x x**

"Sara."

The sing-songed voice caused the young brunette to freeze, her hands stilling over the keys. She turned slowly towards the bed, where Kirsty was lounging across the pillows in a skimpy negligee, a seductive grin dancing across her lipstick-painted lips.

Sara felt her cheeks flush at the realisation of what was expected of her; she turned back to her screen, pursing her lips tightly.

"I'm kinda busy right now." She said as coolly as she could, clearing her throat around the lump that had suddenly formed there.

The bedsprings twanged as Kirsty's weight shifted and suddenly a pair of hands appeared over Sara's eyes.

"Baby, you've been working all afternoon … come to bed." She crooned, her breath inches from her girlfriend's ear.

The smooth voice made Sara's skin crawl and she tensed involuntarily against the hands that had now moved south and were tenderly massaging the back of her neck.

"I … I just need to finish this off." She insisted weakly, although something told her that her pathetic excuses were not going to wash this time.

Sure enough; Kirsty leant over, her exposed skin brushing against Sara's shoulder, and snapped the laptop shut. As she straightened up, pressing a kiss to the girl's temple, she took her firmly by the hand.

"Come on, you're too stressed." She chastised lightly, tugging Sara to her feet. "And I know just how to make you relax."

Sara threw her head back, reluctantly allowing herself to be dragged towards the bed.

As Kirsty's quick hands undid the buttons on her shirt and pushed the material down her arms, grazing the healed bruises, she tried to ignore the sick feeling spreading through her stomach.

She didn't know how much longer she could do this. It was one thing to continue a doomed relationship with someone you despised; it was another thing entirely to make love to them.

X x x

Wrapping the covers around herself, Kirsty pressed her lips to Sara's and shuffled off the bed with a satisfied grin as she sashayed towards the bathroom.

Sara waited until the sound of running water drifted from behind the closed door before releasing the breath she had been holding. Kirsty hadn't noticed the silent tears staining her pale cheeks, and neither had she seen the look of fear that crossed those dark eyes right before she turned out the light.

Now, grateful to finally be alone in the small room, Sara pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms protectively around them.

She felt like a hooker. Like she was letting herself be used for someone else's twisted pleasure.

She felt cold … numb.

X x x

Sofia barely heard the end of Brass' sentence as her gaze drifted into the nearby break room. Without bothering to explain her departure to the bemused man, she wandered across the hall and quietly entered the room.

It was mid-shift and most officers were out doing their rounds. One, however, was apparently taking a break.

Her back was to the door as she flicked idly through a magazine while waiting for the coffee pot to brew. As Sofia crept closer she could hear the woman humming a little tune to herself.

It turned her stomach to think about what could have possibly put her in such a good mood, but she kept silent, not wanting to make her presence known too soon.

She was barely a foot away from Kirsty's turned back when she finally lunged forwards and slammed one hand deliberately on the cop's wrist, pinning it to the bench.

"What the fuck!"

Kirsty's startled struggling almost overbalanced her; but Sofia held firm, leaning down close to the woman's ear.

"You ought to watch your language." She warned in a low voice. "We wouldn't want anyone to think that you had a temper now, would we?"

Kirsty flashed her eyes up and Sofia resisted the urge to back off at that point, instead tightening her grip.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" She barked, straightening up despite her restrained position. She was taller than Sofia recalled.

"I think you know what it means." She hissed. "But perhaps I haven't made myself clear…stay the hell away from Sara."

Kirsty visibly flinched at the words, but when she finally freed her hand and turned around to face Sofia properly, there was nothing but evil behind her cold, hard stare.

"Sara who?" She asked calmly, quirking an eyebrow.

"Don't get smart with me." Sofia retorted bluntly. "I know what you've been doing to her." Kirsty's eyes flashed again, that same dark emotion briefly filling the empty green orbs.

"Oh yeah, and what exactly have I been doing to her?" She challenged. "I mean, other than making her happier than you ever could … in every sense."

Sofia straightened up a little, although she was still no match for the other woman's size, and jutted her chin out stubbornly. She knew it was intended to rile her up, but she couldn't help the instinctive anger that began to bubble in her blood at the implication. How much had Sara told her about their relationship?

"Don't push me Soames." She warned in a low voice. "I have friends in higher places than you."

Kirsty scoffed, shaking her head in almost-gleeful amusement.

"Please, you think I'm scared of you? You're just jealous because I have Sara and you lost her."

"Sara doesn't want you." Sofia shot back angrily. "She's only with you because she's too scared to leave."

Somewhere in the back of her mind, it struck the detective that she could be doing more damage than good right now, but her impulsive defensiveness wouldn't let her stop.

"I don't know what it is that you're holding over her, but I'm going to find out and when I do…"

"What?" Kirsty laughed, throwing her hands out. "What are you going to do, _Detective_? Are you and the murder squad going to use your little fingerprint brushes to put me away?" She spat callously, backing towards the door but never breaking her unfaltering stare. "You've got nothing, because Sara will never tell you anything."

Sofia's shoulders slumped slightly as she watched the smug woman disappear around the corner.

She was right about one thing; Sara probably wouldn't ever tell her what was going on. But that didn't mean she couldn't get more proof on her own.

She was a detective, after all.

X x x

Catherine Willows thought that, after fifteen years in this job, nothing could shock her.

But when she walked into the locker room that evening her heart damn near stopped in her chest at the sight before her.

Sara was unnaturally still, her gaze unwavering as she stared at the little tub of white pills in her hands.

When Cath opened her mouth to speak she had every intention of sounding calm and rational in order to not scare Sara. Unfortunately, her tongue had other plans.

"Give them to me."

The shaky voice caused Sara to start and she jumped to her feet, clutching the tub protectively to her chest.

Unfortunately, Catherine misconstrued her surprised actions as refusal and inched closer, her outstretched hand visibly trembling.

"Sara, honey." She softened her voice. "It's okay, just give me them."

For a moment, Sara's eyes clouded with confusion at her supervisor's inexplicable panic, until she realised what conclusion she had obviously come to. Glancing down at the pills nestled in her hand, she quickly handed them over.

The relief on Cath's face was evident as her hand closed securely around the pot, but Sara didn't even notice as she dropped back onto the bench and ran a stressed hand through her hair.

"I'm sorry." She whispered tearfully. "I … I wasn't going to…"

"It's okay." Catherine assured her, pocketing the offending items for now and joining her on the bench. "Just tell me what's wrong."

"I can't do it." Sara sniffed. Misunderstanding her answer, Cath reached out and gripped her hand tightly.

"Sara, baby, you have to talk to me." She instructed firmly, but gently. "Have you taken any?"

"No." Sara shook her head, lifting her gaze and repeating her previous sentiments in an unsteady voice. "I can't do it anymore." She whimpered. "With Kirsty, it's too hard."

Catherine's baffled frown deepened as Sara carefully extracted her hand and stood up, walking slowly towards the door.

"Sara…" She called out to her, rising to her feet after a somewhat delayed reaction.

Sara paused in the threshold, turning to her with a helpless look.

"I just can't do it anymore."

Catherine watched her go, a deep-seeded fear settling itself over her still-pounding heart.

Fumbling in her pocket, she extracted the tablets again. They were painkillers.

What kind of pain must Kirsty have inflicted on Sara to drive her to this?

X x x

Sara was so absorbed in her cooking that she didn't hear Kirsty enter until the front door slammed shut.

It wasn't often that she cooked a meal from scratch, but occasionally she found it was a good way to distract herself from her thoughts. And lord knows, she needed that today.

Her grandmother had taught her, and it was one of her recipes that Sara had chosen today; a Sicilian dish with a bit of a twist.

Kind of like their family, her Grams used to say.

After Kirsty's ungraceful entrance, she put down the spoon and leant over the counter to peck her lips in greeting. It was a standard routine for them and one she could live with, for now.

"You've been busy." Kirsty noted, eyeing up the copious amount of food lining the small kitchen. She loved Sara's cooking, when she could persuade the brunette to bother.

"Uh huh" came the standard reply, as Sara continued her familiar dance around the room oblivious to the cold eyes fixated on her back.

Eventually, Kirsty clicked her tongue and moved casually around the kitchen counter to lurk behind her.

"I spoke to Sofia Curtis again today."

"Really?" Sara asked as nonchalantly as she could. She really wasn't in any mood to discuss her ex, not today of all days.

"Yeah, she … uh, she warned me to stay away from you."

Sara stilled, her eyes widening in alarm. She had suspected that Sofia knew something, but she thought she'd made it clear that she had no inclination to discuss the matter with the curious detective.

"She's jealous." Sara shrugged, hoping it would diffuse the situation. "Ignore her."

"Well, it was actually something else she said…"

"Hang on," Sara turned, still brandishing a ladle as she narrowed her eyes in thought. "It's Thursday?"

"Yeah?" Kirsty quirked an eyebrow, somewhat peturbed at being interrupted.

"You don't work Thursdays anymore – that's when your counselling sessions are."

And just like that, the tables had turned. Kirsty's accusatory expression morphed into one of guilt and she bowed her head shamefully.

"Kirsty," Sara pressed softly. "You are still seeing a counsellor, right?"

"I tried." She threw her shoulders up weakly. "It just wasn't working for me." She took a step closer, her arms outstretched. Shrugging off the embrace, Sara wasn't going to let this drop so easily, despite her precarious position trapped against the cabinets.

"You promised me that you were still going."

"Yeah, well…"

"You lied to me." Sara cut her off bitterly.

"No, I …"

"When did you last go?" Sara challenged, turning off the cooker and resting her back against the counter. If you'd asked her later where this sudden courage had come from she probably wouldn't have been able to tell you; but something in her had broken today.

Perhaps it was the look in Catherine's eyes when she'd found her staring at those pills. Perhaps it was the pills themselves, or what they represented.

"Tell me." She pressed. "When did you last speak to a counsellor?"

"Three months ago." Kirsty admitted quietly. "Look, you don't understand." She darted forwards, grabbing Sara's wrists. "Those people, they were making me feel crazy! They were looking at me like I was some sort of freak!"

"They were there to help you!" Sara countered, attempting to pull her arms free and nearly knocking over the pans in the process.

"I'm not crazy Sara!" She insisted desperately. "I'm not, I don't need them. All I need to get through this is you!"

"Yeah, well. You're going to have to find a new way to fight your demons." Sara snapped, finally freeing herself and sliding around the woman towards the door.

Kirsty, however, was not going to let that happen in a hurry. Nobody walked away from her like this.

As the red mist descended, she whirled with a familiar manic look in her green eyes.

The first hit, unexpected and blunt, brought Sara to her knees but she quickly rose again using the kitchen cabinets to pull herself back up.

"You can't leave me!" Kirsty wailed, continuing her assault. "You can't do this!"

The blows, raining hard and fast against Sara's shoulders and back, were not enough to deter her this time and she made an unexpected burst towards the door.

"No! Sara, you can't…!" Kirsty grabbed her roughly by the arm and attempted to yank her backwards, but this time the younger woman put up more of a fight and managed to wrench herself free. The resulting force led to them both falling in opposite directions; Sara into the wall and Kirsty against the couch.

Seeing her opportunity, Sara snatched her keys from the kitchen counter and bolted to the door. Yet Kirsty was still quicker and, grabbing the nearest thing within her reach, she launched it towards the door.

The glass shattered inches from Sara's head as her hand barely grazed the door handle.

She stared hard at the tiny fragments sparking on the ground at her feet. She couldn't help but compare it to their relationship. Once so beautiful and delicate, now shattered and broken in pieces around her.

Kirsty was on her feet again by now, her chest heaving with every breath. Her hand twitched, her eyes flicking temptingly towards the hot pans still bubbling on the cooker.

"You know what," Sara mumbled, her voice filled with an emptiness that scared them both. "I can't do this anymore."

Without waiting for a response, she opened the door and slipped out, leaving the enraged woman alone.

In the uneasy silence that settled around her, Kirsty released an angry roar, swinging around and landing a boot-clad foot squarely on the coffee table. It tipped over, careening upside down across the rug.

Her blood was boiling with rage. How dare Sara walk away from her? Nobody just walks away from her.

Picking up something else, she hurled it at the far wall. It smashed, falling in pieces onto the bed.

The sound of things smashing gave her some small amount of satisfaction and she moved to the desk, wiping everything off in one sweep. Trinkets and journals scattered across the floor in a flurry of paperwork.

CDs and books were thrown off the book case. Glasses and plates were ripped from the cupboards onto the floor.

The pan, now cooled to a gentle simmer on the stove, ended up halfway across the bathroom.

You could practically see the steam rising from her skin, she was so mad.

Her breath coming out in sharp, grunted gasps; her whole body shaking, she stood in the middle of the apartment and surveyed the damage she'd inflicted. Sara's home, everything she owned, was trashed.

Scanning the small space, her green eyes latched onto one item in particular that had thus far avoided her wrath.

Sara's guitar.

Her favourite item in the world.

With slow, calculated strides over the broken ornaments, Kirsty crouched down and ran her hand across the case. Sliding the zip open, she lifted it out carefully, stroking the instrument as if it were a delicate animal.

She had watched Sara play it before, when they were first dating. She always seemed happy when she was playing it, lost in some faraway land where there was no fighting and no pain.

It struck Kirsty that she hadn't seen Sara look happy in a long time. Too long.

Casting her eyes over the guitar in her arms again, she gripped the top of the neck and swung it high above her head, taking a deep breath before bringing it crashing down against the hard floor.

Turquoise wood splintered, cracking along the seams of the instrument. Lifting it again, she repeated the motion over and over again until she was left holding nothing but the headstock.

Dropping the remains, she ran a hand through her thick, tangled hair.

Slowly, the extent of what she had just done began to sink in and she fell back against the chair behind her, using it to hold her trembling body up.

Sara would hate her for this. She would never forgive her...

How had her life turned out like this?

Emitting a growl of frustration, she kicked out at the empty guitar case lying at her feet.

As the case tumbled away from her, something hard fell out of it and skittered across the floor.

Kirsty froze, raising an eyebrow curiously at the phone which came to a gentle stop at her feet.


	24. What I would give to hold you tight

**Second ridiculously long chapter in a row, but I couldn't decide where to cut it off :) Hope you enjoy!**

**x x x x**

Sara nudged the door open tentatively, listening carefully for any sign of movement in the flat.

She'd driven around for what felt like hours before coming to the conclusion that she had nowhere else to go and reluctantly returned to her grim, grey apartment building.

Kirsty's car was still in the parking lot, but that didn't necessarily mean she was still in the apartment. She could have gone for a walk.

And for one blissful second Sara thought that someone had heard her hopeful prayer; for the flat appeared, at first glance, to be empty.

Trashed, but empty.

She stepped carefully over the broken glass littering her doorway, automatically going to put her bag on the counter before her eye caught the remnants of her dinner splattered across the surface. She paused, instead placing it on the floor.

It was only then that she noticed the dark-skinned woman was still in the room, sat perfectly still on the couch and staring straight ahead as if Sara wasn't even there.

She froze, her blood running cold at the sight.

Slowly scanning what used to be her apartment, her sad gaze settled at last on the smashed guitar.

"What the hell?"

The words slipped out beyond her control as she hurriedly cleared the room and dropped to her knees.

"Hurts doesn't it?" Kirsty stated bluntly, pushing herself off the couch. "To lose something you love."

Tears were already beginning to creep down Sara's face as she hesitantly reached out to touch the shattered ruins of her treasured instrument.

"Why … why would you do this? How could you?" There was anger hiding somewhere inside her at the shocking actions, but the only emotion that infiltrated her voice was desperation.

Kirsty walked slowly towards her, her boots crunching over the broken items on the floor, and crouched down beside her girlfriend. She licked her lips and leant closer, until they were inches from Sara's ear, the feel of her breath sending shivers up the younger woman's spine.

"Well let's see …" she began in a low, husky voice. "I picked it up, I swung it in the air and I slammed it against the floor."

Sara winced with every word, clutching the splintered pieces of wood tighter, as if she could still protect it somehow.

"And you know what, it felt good." She continued coldly. "Almost as good as Catherine makes you feel!"

She stood up so suddenly that Sara barely caught a glimpse of the item in her hand before it was launched at her from above. Kirsty felt a small amount of satisfaction as it grazed her face before landing in her lap.

Sara looked down in stunned silence for a long, horrified moment at the phone. It had been her lifeline, her one safety net when she was struggling to stay on her tightrope.

And now it was gone; lost to the shark that had been swimming circles around her for six months.

X x x

Catherine knew she was taking a huge risk by going to Sara's flat, since Kirsty would more than likely be there.

But right now it was a risk she was willing to take.

She hadn't realised just how low Sara had sunk, but having seen her today there was no question that she had hit rock bottom.

Heaven knows what could have happened if Cath hadn't walked in when she did.

She knew the way to Sara's flat off by heart now – she'd memorised it as soon as she found out what Kirsty had been doing, in case she ever needed to get there in a hurry. Sara probably didn't know this, but Cath could be at her flat in under ten minutes if the situation called for it.

Give or take a few stop signs, of course.

From the parking lot, she could see the light on in Sara's apartment, but it was impossible to tell whether she was alone or not. Sara's car was here, but off the top of her head she couldn't remember what Kirsty drove.

Something bulky and threatening she'd guess.

Hoping for the best, Catherine gathered her bag from the front seat and made her way slowly up the stairs. On the drive over she'd conjured a few excuses to explain her presence here, but she wasn't sure which one would be the most plausible.

Not that it mattered, because every single one of them left her mind when she reached the door … half-open, for the whole world to enter.

And that frightening sight was only a prelude to what she saw when she peered inside.

Broken glass, smashed plates, mysterious stains, an overturned coffee table…

Catherine Willows did not need fifteen years of experience to recognise a crime scene when she saw one.

Unholstering her weapon, she stepped quickly but carefully over the broken items, trying not to disturb anything.

After a brief glance into the bathroom, her gaze danced over the rest of the small apartment.

She spotted Sara instantly, sat motionless on the floor with her back to the woman.

"Sara?" Cath called out tentatively, taking a small step closer.

The brunette lifted her head but didn't turn around.

"You can put that away." She stated knowingly. "She won't be coming back tonight."

Relaxing just a little at the assurance, Catherine returned her weapon to its home and delicately picked her way towards her colleague.

As she got nearer it became apparent why Sara was on the floor. Cradled pathetically in her arms was what used to be an acoustic guitar.

"Oh, no." Cat breathed, crouching down behind her friend. She automatically placed a hand on her shoulder, but quickly retracted it when Sara flinched at the action.

From here, Cath could see that the apartment wasn't the only thing Kirsty had lashed out at tonight. The right side of Sara's face was bruised and scratched, and more mottled marks peeped out from beneath her t-shirt.

"Oh God." She sighed again, dropping her head.

"She found the phone." Sara murmured.

It took Catherine a few seconds for this to register, before her face paled.

"Oh." She stood up stiffly, walking to the couch and sinking heavily into the cushions. "And I'm guessing she didn't take it well."

"She deleted the photos in front of me." Sara sniffed, wiping at her eyes. "She took it with her when she left."

"It's okay, I've got a copy of everything." Catherine assured her softly, her gaze scouring the rest of the room. Whatever had happened, it had not been pretty.  
When Sara didn't speak again, she leant forwards and rested her hands on her knees. "Sara, hon, what happened here today?"

Instead of answering, Sara carefully placed the broken guitar on the floor and stood up, sloping towards her; but she didn't join her on the couch. She dropped onto her chair and pulled her knees up to her chest. She could feel Catherine tracking her every movement, but it was more than she could bear to meet her eyes.

"Why did you come here?" She asked at last, her voice weak and thick with unshed tears. Cath had been expecting a question along these lines, but it still threw her for a moment.

"I was scared for you. When I saw you in the locker room today … you gave me a fright."

"Sorry." Sara shrugged, not quiet managing to sound apologetic. "I wasn't going to…" She let the sentence trail off, throwing a hand out to the side.

"The thought crossed your mind though, didn't it?"

She offered a tight smile in response to the gentle question. She could lie, but what would be the point.

"Sometimes I can see why people want to take the easy option." She nodded at last.

Feeling the need to have some physical contact with the girl despite her obvious aversion to it right now, Cath moved to perch on the edge of Sara's chair. The brunette, to her relief, did not make any effort to move away.

"Honey, everyone thinks that sometimes." She promised. "But that's not you. You're a fighter; and one way or another, we're going to get you through this."

Sara nodded slowly, casting her eyes back to the guitar.

"That was my grandfather's." She noted sadly. "My grandmother gave it to me after he died. She took the one thing I actually cared about in this place and she smashed it." She turned back to Catherine, tears flooding her pained hazel eyes. "Why would she do that?"

"Because she was trying to hurt you." Cath answered softly, reaching up to stroke her cheek. "And it's worked, see?" She caught a tear with her fingertip, watching with a broken heart as Sara scrunched her eyes tight closed in a failing attempt to staunch the rest of them. "Sara, this wasn't done in a fit of rage. This was calculated."

Sara opened her eyes again and they instantly sought out the wrecked guitar. The best carpenter in the world couldn't put it back together now.

"I hate her." She mumbled.

Catherine released a breath, moving the hand which still lay on Sara's cheek to submerge it in dark locks. As horrible as it may sound, she had been waiting to hear that for a long time.

"Come on, why don't you come to mine for tonight?" She suggested. "I've got a spare room, and you can't stay here with it like this." She gestured to the mess. It would need to be tidied up at some point, but right now she didn't think Sara could stand cleaning away the remains of her whole life.

Sara sucked in a shaky breath, standing up and moving towards the chest of drawers at the far side of the flat.

While she threw a few essentials carelessly into a bag, a silent acceptance of the offer, the supervisor took a few minutes to survey the rest of the apartment.

There were hardly any photos, she noticed. Only a couple of the whole team, and one of an older woman with auburn hair. Sara's mother, possibly. Or the aforementioned grandmother.

Other than that, there were very few sentimental items. A collection of vinyls that were clearly too old to have belonged to Sara were sat in a box alongside her extensive CD collection, but that was about it.

Clearly, that guitar had been her only valuable item in this tiny little home of hers.

Stepping carefully over the mess, she joined the young CSI sat on the bottom of the bed, staring forlornly at her broken instrument.

"Come on sweetheart." She whispered, taking the bag in one hand and linking their fingers together in the other. "Let's get out of this place."

X x x

"Lindsey won't be home from school for a few hours." Catherine stated after a long few minutes of silence, more to fill the void than anything. Sara's only reaction was a tiny nod, her gaze still affixed somewhere over Cath's shoulder as the older woman went about her task of tending to and photographing the fresh injuries.

"She has the phone. She deleted the photos." Sara repeated her earlier statement bluntly.

"Only off your phone." Cath pointed out. "I still have a copy of them."

"Yeah, but she knows that." Sara sighed, dragging a hand through her hair and wincing as her shoulder clicked painfully. "She'll already be forming a plausible explanation for the bruises."

"And we'll deal with that when we get to it." Cath disregarded the concern with a wave of her hand. "Until then, at least you're safe here."

Sara nodded glumly, her gaze drifting across the room again.

Deciding that she had done all she could for the scrapes, Catherine sat forward on the coffee table and gripped Sara's hands tightly between her own.

The girl's forehead was creased in deep thought, a look that Cath found undeniably cute.

"What?" She pressed with a small smile. "You look concerned."

Sara nodded slowly in agreement, letting her eyes fall into her lap.

"Kirsty accused me of having an affair with … um, with you." She confessed quietly. "And you know, I kind of wished I was." She looked up, meeting Cat's gaze for the first time, tears still glistening in her eyes. "Is that wrong?"

Catherine smiled sadly at the innocent trepidation in her voice, squeezing her hands tighter.

"No sweetheart. It's not wrong."

Holding her arms out, she dragged Sara into a hug. The girl's skin was hot to the touch, as was the breath against her neck. She held her a little tighter, letting her troubled friend take what she needed from the embrace. It struck her how small Sara felt in her arms when she was scared, as if she was trying to hide inside Catherine's body to protect herself.

In truth, if it were possible Catherine would have happily let her stay there.

X x x

Sofia momentarily tore her attention from her computer to greet the man who had just graced her office.

"I thought you'd have been long gone by now." Jim commented, mildly surprised that the young blonde had out-worked him today.

She smiled, attempting to look nonchalant.

"Oh, I'm just working on something." She explained vaguely. "I won't be much longer."

"Yeah, how many times have I said that before." The aging captain winked at her playfully. "Just be sure to refill the coffee pot when you're done."

She smiled gratefully at the light-hearted interlude to her depressing work, reassuring the man that she would go home eventually.

With that promise in mind, he left her alone and she breathed a sigh of relief before going back to her research.

She wasn't exactly sure what she was looking for, but she knew there had to be something.

Domestic abuse cases, police complaint records, previous employment references … there had to be some conclusive evidence that she could use against Kirsty – maybe she could even persuade Sara to leave her once and for all.

She just wished that she knew what _Sara_ knew about the woman. She obviously had something on her; otherwise she wouldn't have told Catherine that she was going to leave her.

And what about the message to Catherine on the day of her accident? Something must have sparked that.

Dropping her head onto her folded arms, Sofia scrunched her eyes tight closed. She wished that she had known what was going on sooner, then maybe she could have actually been of some help. She had known that something was going on months ago; she should have pushed it further, but she just couldn't say no to those hazel eyes and that lopsided smile.

Of course.

She snapped her head up, her eyes widening in realisation.

Right after the smoke bomb had gone off, Sara had come to her in confidence, asking for the staff sign-in sheet for that day. At the time it had seemed an odd request but she'd just assumed that the brunette was following up a hunch.

Rummaging through the mass of paperwork on her desk, not caring that she was messing up her neat filing system, she eventually located the folder. When she'd photocopied it for Sara, she'd never gotten around to replacing it again.

At the time she hadn't known what Sara could be looking for, but now it all made sense.

And sure enough, Kirsty Soames signed out 'for lunch' an hour before the smoke bomb went off and didn't sign in again until a whole four hours later.

Which just left one question: if Sara knew this, why hadn't she said anything yet?

X x x

Catherine rolled onto her back, folding her arms beneath her head.

She couldn't sleep knowing that Sara was just down the hall.

In recent weeks she had seen almost every inch of her young colleague's body. She had touched her; held her; kissed her, even.

She had seen her vulnerable and frightened, in stark contrast to the bulletproof persona Sara tried to convey at work. More tellingly, she had earned the girl's trust. And that was something she was determined to hold on to.

In a twisted kind of way, she almost didn't want things to change in case she lost the strong connection she'd created with the brunette. If Sara were to leave Kirsty, would she still need Cath's support?

Sofia's words briefly flitted through her mind but she batted them away, not willing to admit that the detective was right; that maybe she had been using Sara's situation for her own personal gain.

Tossing the covers back, she rolled to her feet and snatched her gown off the back of the door.

She instinctively moved to check on Lindsey before remembering that the girl was still at school and instead continued down the hall to the guest room.

The light was out, but she could easily discern Sara's figure beneath the covers. She looked so small, curled into a defensive little ball in the centre of the bed.

With an affectionate smile, Cath tiptoed across the carpet and perched on the edge, careful not to wake her.

She reached out, brushing away dark curls tenderly. Sara frowned in her sleep, but she didn't stir.

"It's not wrong, baby." Catherine whispered sadly, stroking her friend's cheek with the back of her fingers as she rolled her eyes despondently towards the ceiling. "It's just really bad timing."


	25. If you give me 'til the end of the night

"Hey, you alright?" Warrick queried delicately as they crossed the parking lot.

Mid-yawn, Catherine paused and turned her gaze up to his face.

"I'm fine, why?" She asked casually, stuffing her hands into her coat pockets.

"I don't know," he narrowed his emerald eyes. "You just seem pretty tired tonight."

Well, she couldn't argue with that. She offered a weak smile, humming in agreement.

"I'm okay; I just didn't sleep well."

It wasn't a lie; she hadn't really slept at all. In fact, she'd spent most of the night in Sara's room, just watching the brunette sleep. She'd been so engrossed in staring at her peaceful face, she hadn't even realised how late in the day it was until Lindsey clattered in from school.

Warrick didn't look completely convinced, but he let it drop as Nick jogged towards them from the lab.

"Hey, have you guys seen Sara on your travels?" He asked breathlessly, skidding to a halt in front of them.

"No, why?" Cath frowned, her well-honed instincts kicking in at the panicked look in the Texan's eyes.

"You know that case they're working at the mental hospital?" He asked, not pausing long enough to hear their answer. "One of the inmates attacked her."

The words hit Catherine square in the gut and she stopped in the middle of the parking lot, her whole body turning cold.

"You're kidding?" Warrick breathed, his shoulder's tensing involuntarily at the news.

"She's alright." Nick held his hands up quickly. "He locked himself into a reception area with her, put some makeshift blade to her neck but she managed to get out before he could hurt her."

"Thank God." Cath swallowed hard around the lump that had appeared in her throat, shaking her head against the tears trying to materialise. "How … how did that even happen?"

"I don't know the full story yet, but I heard Brass tore Grissom a new one for it." Nick ran a hand through his hair, which currently stuck out in an unruly fashion, suggesting he'd been stressing out for a while. "She stuck around to do some interviews but she should be back by now. Grissom sent me out here to wait for her."

"Grissom's already back?" Catherine asked, unsettled at the thought that he could have left her alone in that place after what happened.

"Yeah, Brass stayed with Sara." Nick reassured her, sensing the reason for her worry. "Griss came back with the evidence."

As he'd been speaking, a car had pulled into the lot and they all released a unified sigh of relief as a familiar figure climbed out of the Denali and strode towards them.

There was something off about her demeanour, less self-assured than usual, but she offered them a small smile as she approached to assuage some of their obvious fears.

"Hey Sar." Nicky grinned, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "We heard what happened. You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." She smiled weakly, sinking against his strong body.

Catherine ran a comforting hand up and down her arm, casting a concerned look over her body.

"Damn girl," Warrick scowled, reaching out to trace a faint bruise on her jaw line. She flinched away from his touch, catching Catherine's eye knowingly. Most of her injuries from yesterday were well concealed under makeup, but that one must have escaped during the struggle.

"It's okay." Sara shrugged meekly, gesturing pointedly towards the lab. As they made their way across the lot, with Sara flanked protectively by her teammates, a pair of eyes narrowed at them through the dim light.

"Aw, and I don't even have a camera."

The callous voice caused both women to stop in their tracks, sharing a look of horror. The boys turned in joined confusion as a tall, slender figure emerged from the shadows, a cocky sway to her hips as she approached.

"Well, aren't you Little Miss Popular at the moment?"

"Kirsty." Sara gulped, shrinking back as far as she could.

"So, it's equal opportunities I take it?" The woman snapped, gesturing to Nick's arm still slung around her shoulders. "One minute you're in bed with me and the next you're all over the first guy you set eyes on." Sara's first reaction was to step away from the man, but he held her firmly against his chest.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" He queried, a deep frown etched into his forehead. He recognised her, but for the life of him he couldn't think where from.

"Nick, take Sara inside." Catherine jumped in before she could answer.

Kirsty emitted a hollow laugh, throwing her head back.

"Figures." She scoffed, holding Sara's gaze. "What is she, your girlfriend or your bodyguard?"

Both women stiffened at the comment, although probably for different reasons; but Catherine held her ground.

"Boys, take Sara inside now." She repeated sternly through gritted teeth.

Nick and Warrick shared an uncertain look, but eventually Warrick did as requested and gently took Sara's arm to guide her towards the building. Nick hovered for a moment longer, flicking his brown eyes suspiciously between Cath and Kirsty before jogging to catch his colleagues up.

"Well well, we meet formally at last." Kirsty smirked, taking a threatening step closer. "The wonderful Catherine Willows … I've heard a lot about you."

"Ditto." Cath retorted, straightening up to her full height, not that it had much of an effect on the lanky cop. "What, it's not enough to beat her up at home; you have to come to her place of work now?"

Adding to the blonde's growing anger, Kirsty merely laughed.

"Let me get this right; you're sleeping with my girlfriend _and_ you're taking a pop at me?" She accused.

Catherine threw her head back, releasing a deep breath which frosted in the cool night air.

"I'm not sleeping with Sara." She contradicted, catching Kirsty's gaze again. "But if I was, I would treat her a damn sight better than you do!"

"I know that she slept at your house yesterday." Kirsty continued, ignoring the direct shot at her. "And now I come here and find her wrapped up in some guy's arms!"

Catherine emitted a humourless laugh, daring to take a step closer.

"Sara was attacked at a crime scene today. She could have been killed." Perhaps she was being a tad melodramatic – she didn't know the full story yet so she couldn't be sure, but it seemed to have a small effect on the other woman. "_That guy_ was holding her because he cares about her. We all do … unlike you."

Out of the corner of her eye she caught a sudden movement and recoiled. Kirsty's hand stilled over her hip, realising what Catherine was thinking, and a smirk spread across her lips.

"You get the same look that Sara does when she's scared." She hissed, digging into her pocket and producing a familiar item. "You recognise this?"

"Sara's phone." Catherine cleared her throat. "You do know that taking that won't do you any good, right? I have a copy of everything on there."

"Oh, I bet you do." Kirsty nodded. "What you don't have is the proof that I gave Sara those bruises. For all anyone knows, you could have put them there."

Catherine scoffed bitterly.

"You know what, you're right. There is something between Sara and I." She barked. "And it doesn't matter what you've done to her, because I can love her for both of us!"

Even from the distance between them she could see the spark of anger in Kirsty's eyes and quickly regretted her words.

"You need to get out of here." She continued, lowering her voice. "You can't hurt Sara here."

She turned towards the building, determined to end the conversation before it could get any further out of hand, when that ugly, course voice hollered after her.

"You don't know who you're messing with, _Catherine_. I can hurt Sara and you worse than you can even imagine!"

Catherine kept walking, her whole body shaking after the confrontation. She scarcely made it to the bottom of the concrete steps, her body relaxing ever so slightly, when she looked up and found herself staring into the deep, wounded eyes of Greg Sanders.

She didn't know how long he'd been stood there, but it was clear from his expression that it was long enough.

X x x

"Where's Sara?" She barked as they entered the reception, blatantly ignoring the young CSI's question.

Greg opened his mouth to speak, but it was Grissom who answered.

"I was hoping you could answer that." The calm man quirked an eyebrow at her from across the waiting area, a look she instantly recognised as meaning she was in trouble. "My office."

Catherine dropped her shoulders despondently and sloped after him. He stood by the door, waiting for her to enter and sending Greg a pointed look when he tried to follow as well.

"Alright," he pointed towards the chair behind the desk. "What's going on with Sara?"

"How much do you know?" She asked nervously, folding her hands in her lap.

"Nothing. I came out of my office to talk to her only to see her take off down the hall. The boys couldn't tell me anything and I can't find her in the lab. So, I repeat, what's going on?"

He sat back, waiting for an explanation. Cath relaxed a little, comforted by his lack of knowledge.

"I've been helping her with a personal issue." She answered vaguely. "As much as I'd love to clue you in, I owe it to her to keep quiet until she's ready for you to know. It's nothing to do with the lab and it's not affecting her ability work so there's no reason…"

"Catherine," he held his hands up, putting an end to her nervous babbling. When she shut up, he sat forward, holding her gaze. After speaking with the boys, there was only one thing he wanted to know right now. "Is there something going on between you and Sara that I should know about?"

X x x

Warrick scoffed. "Come on, Sara's not gay."

"Well, it sure sounded that way to me." Nick countered. "And it didn't sound like Cath was too surprised by any of this either."

"What are you getting at?" Warrick asked suspiciously.

"I'm just saying, it sounded like this woman and Sara have something going on … and Catherine clearly knows about it. Maybe she's even involved…"

"Nah, no way man." Warrick shook his head adamantly. "Catherine doesn't swing that way!"

"What about Sara?"

Rick cocked his head to the side, pursing his lips. "Alright, I'd buy that Sara does … but either way she obviously doesn't want to tell us." He pointed out. "I say we wait until she's ready to talk."

"I don't care, man." Nick scowled. "We're a team, she should tell us stuff like this. We have a right to know."

At the centre bench, Greg slammed his hands down and pushed himself off the stool.

"You want to talk about rights?" He barked. "What the hell gives you the _right_ to talk about her like this?"

"Hey, hey!" Nick held his hands up, backing off from the irate young man. "Sara's my friend; now if something's going on, I want to know about it. We shouldn't have secrets like this between us."

"Did you ever think that there might be a reason she doesn't tell you everything?" The youngest CSI challenged. "When this is what you call helping? Gossiping about her behind her back?"

"Now come on Greg." Nick tried again, earning himself a forceful shove from the younger man.

Slightly stunned by the action, it took Nick a moment to react, by which point Warrick was already attempting to separate them.

"Hey, hey! Cool your jets, both of you!" He chastised. "G, if you know something…"

"What's going on?"

They all turned, some less pleased than others to see Catherine lurking in the door with a suspicious frown.

She had given up looking for Sara, who was apparently playing an elaborate game of hide and seek somewhere in the maze of labs.

"Ask Nick, he seems to think he knows everything around here!" Greg spat, lunging again for the older man.

"Hey! Greg, calm down!" She reached out, grabbing his flailing arms and dragging him backwards.

"He thinks it's cool to talk about Sara behind her back." He continued to snarl, forcefully shrugging the woman off.

Cath turned to Nick, quirking an eyebrow for elaboration.

"Look, all I said was that it sounds like there's something going on in her life that we don't know about." He defended himself.

"Unless you know something that we don't?" Warrick added.

Catherine released a breath, straightening up beside Greg.

"It doesn't matter what I know." She said coolly. "Whatever is going on in Sara's life, it's none of our business and until she tells us we're going to stay out of it."

"Yeah, but …"

"No buts Nick." She stated bluntly. "Leave Sara alone. She doesn't need this, today of all days."

Turning on her heel, she left the room before they could question her any longer on the events in the parking lot.

However, she got barely ten feet down the hall when she felt a tug on her sleeve.

"Hey, Cath." Greg asked, falling into step with her. "What Kirsty said out there … is it true? You and Sara?"

Catherine paused, contemplating her response. This was the second time today that someone had asked her this question. And the truth was, she still didn't know how to answer it.

"No, Greg." She shook her head almost sadly after a long moment's consideration. "There's nothing going on between Sara and I."

X x x

She didn't know how things had gotten this bad. She'd promised that she would help Sara, and look where her help had landed them.

The guys knew that something was going on.

Greg was trying to knock seven bells out of Nick.

Even Grissom had cottoned on to something being amiss.

And Sara had vanished off the face of the earth.

Catherine paused in her frantic circling of the office, cocking her head to the side. For a second she thought she'd heard someone knock on her door, but she must have imagined it.

Resuming her pacing, she ran a hand through her hair again. Nobody had seen Sara since she ran off, she wasn't answering her phone and according to Sofia, Kirsty hadn't been in the station all night.

Cath was on the verge of pulling her hair out when she turned and froze on the spot.

"Hey." She breathed, her blue eyes softening with relief as they settled on the figure who had mysteriously appeared in her office.

Dried tear tracks were visible on her pale cheeks and her longs sleeves were stretched and screwed up in her hands from endless anxious tugging of them. But she was okay.

"Hi, um, I'm sorry." Sara mumbled helplessly. "I know I shouldn't have vanished.

"It's okay honey." Cath assured her, reaching out and gently coaxing her inside. Sensing the need for privacy, she walked around her, peering into the hallway before closing the door and pressing her back against it. "Are you okay?"

Sara pursed her lips, shaking her head wordlessly.

"I don't know what to do Cat." She whispered.

Taking her by the hand, Catherine led her to the couch and sat down opposite her. She had lost count of how many times they had found themselves in a similar position recently. Out of habit, Sara pinned her hands between her knees and looked away while Cath scrutinised her closely.

"I can't face them." She whispered at last. "Not now."

"It'll be alright Sara." Cath assured her softly. "They're just worried about you. When you disappeared, we didn't know where to look for you."

"I know." Sara nodded. "I needed to think." She paused, licking her lips in thought. "How much do they know?"

"As far as I can tell, they don't actually know anything." Catherine replied. "Nick thinks he knows something but without any proof…"

"Cat." Sara cut her off, her hazel eyes pleading for honesty. Cath exhaled slowly.

"He thinks he knows that you date women." She explained. "And he knows that I'm involved somehow."

"Oh, God." Sara dropped her head into her hands to hide the flood of emotion in her eyes.

"It's okay baby." She cooed sweetly, tenderly prising Sara's hands away and holding her face firmly, wiping away her tears with the soft pad of her thumb. "Everything's going to be alright."

"How?" Sara squeaked, desperately searching her gentle features for some answers.

Helpless to provide any, Catherine did the only thing she could think of left to do.

Never breaking their strong gaze, she leant forward and captured the girl's lips in a sweet, firm kiss.

**x x x x**

**Oooh :) Let me know what you think x**


	26. You know I'm so in love with you

**Not 100% happy with this chapter, but hopefully you'll like it. The fire starts in the next one (I had to split this chapter in half because it would have been far too long otherwise!)**

**x x x x**

"Hey!"

Nick started, coming to a halt outside the trace lab where David Hodges was scowling at him impatiently from the door.

"Don't you ever check your pager?" The lab rat snapped. Ignoring the snipe, Nick followed him into the room. He had been on another lap of the labyrinth-like halls in search of the girls, but he supposed it could wait a few minutes longer.

"You, uh, you got something for me there boss?" The Texan asked, sauntering over to the bench. It was clear from his demeanour that David was thus far out of the loop with regards to the night's excitement. Hopefully he could keep it that way.

"Don't I always?" Hodges asked sarcastically, waving the sheet of paper in his hands dramatically. "The pollen on your windscreen was from a _mimulus rupicola_ – a death valley monkeyflower."

Nick quirked a surprised eyebrow. "Monkey flower?"

"Yes, it's endemic to the Mojave desert in Eastern California."

"Okay, that's ... that's interesting. The car was in California recently." Nick frowned, trying to tie the new piece of information into his case. "Thanks H."

He moved back towards the hall, electing to worry about this once he'd located the women, when David's irritated voice held him back again.

"Have you seen Topsy and Eva recently? They're not answering their phones either. You know, I swear you guys do it to me on purpose sometimes…"

"I'm sorry, Topsy and who?" Nick cut him off, confusion flooding his boyish features.

"The Duncan Sisters? It's a great life?"

Nick shrugged helplessly, still not following. "Come on, two women joined at the hip…"

"Hodges what _are_ you talking about?" He asked, exasperated. He'd had a bad enough day as it was and he didn't need this pretentious pain in the ass slowing him down right now.

"Catherine and Sara." The labrat sighed. "You know there's more to culture than sport, Nick. Why don't you try reading every once in a while or something?"

Nick's expression morphed into one of understanding as the penny finally dropped; although the insult washed straight over him.

"Oh, oh right." He nodded, still not sure what Hodges was wittering about but he at least understood _who_ he was talking about. "Yeah, um. No, I haven't seen them. Actually I was just looking for them myself." He started to walk away again but stopped, cocking his head to the side. "Hey, what do you mean they're 'joined at the hip'?"

"You know, they're always together. Always know where the other one is." Hodges shrugged as if it should be obvious.

"So, you think that they're…"

"What? Everyone thinks it's true." The tech insisted, misreading the Texan's curiosity as scepticism. Glancing around them, he leant across the table conspiratorially. "Archie even saw them kissing once."

"Seriously?" Nick asked, his dark eyes bugging out of his head.

"Well, not like a proper kiss." David amended slightly. "I think it was on the cheek – but still, a kiss is a kiss!"

"So, everybody is in on this?" Nicky snatched his results off the bench and moved lazily towards the door, tapping the folder to his chin in thought as he absently mulled this news over.

"The pools up to $350. You're missing out." Hodges hollered at his retreating back.

X x x

"I told you so."

Warrick jumped at the ungainly entrance of his mate, who stalked up to him brandishing a finger accusingly.

"What now?" He questioned almost disinterestedly.

"Catherine and Sara." Nick placed his hands flat on the layout table. "I knew there was something going on."

"What, they actually told you that?" Warrick put his file down and turned his full attention to the other man. Nick pursed his lips.

"No, not so much." He shook his head slowly. "But Hodges…"

"Oh, come on." Warrick scoffed, disregarding the conversation and going back to his work. "Whatever Hodges thinks he knows, he doesn't know."

"Maybe not." Nick conceded. "But you've got to admit that they do spend a lot of time together, especially lately."

"That doesn't mean anything; you and I spend a lot of time together too but it doesn't mean that we're knocking boots."

"I don't know man," Nick shook his head, scrunching his nose up at the thought Warrick had just put in his head. "I mean, Catherine is the only person who always knows where to find Sara when she does one of her disappearing acts. And Sara gets away with murder around Cath; if I said some of those things to her she'd slap me. But Sara..."

"Sara what?"

The boys shared a guilty look, turning in unison towards the door.

The brunette was leaning against the doorframe, one eyebrow quirked. If not for the nervous glint in her eyes, she would have looked almost imposing at this moment in time.

Nick shifted his gaze back to Warrick, but the dark-skinned man held his hands up, making it quite clear that he was on his own here. Inhaling deeply, the Texan turned again to Sara, who continued to wait patiently for an answer.

"Alright." He stepped towards her. "Sara, about what that woman said outside …" he paused, trying to find the words. Unfortunately they found him first and spilled out in a less than smooth manner. "Are you gay?"

After her unexpected moment with Catherine, Sara had been en route to Grissom's office, planning to take his earlier advice and go home early. She needed to think.  
Instead, she'd caught the tail end of the boys' conversation and panicked.

Had they seen the kiss? She had just literally run out on Catherine a moment ago, but she knew from experience that it didn't take long for word to spread around here.

"I…" She swallowed, catching sight of someone at the end of the hall and suddenly losing all control of her senses.

"Sara." Warrick held his hands up, his forehead creased into a concerned frown at her sudden obvious panic. "It's okay."

She, however, barely heard him as she stumbled back into the corridor without answering.

Nick turned to Warrick, throwing his hands out as if her behaviour had just proved his point.

Warrick rolled his eyes, gathering his notes up.

"Well done, genius." He dripped sarcastically. "I can't for the life of me understand why she doesn't trust us."

X x x

Sofia did a double take, pausing in the threshold.

It was only twenty minutes ago she had told Catherine that Kirsty had not been in the station all night. And yet there she was, large as life, pouring herself a cup of coffee. And it was just convenient timing, Sofia realised, as she glanced down at the stack of folders in her arms. One, in particular, was of relevance.

Taking a deep breath, she straightened up and sauntered as casually as she could into the room, attempting to look threatening.

"You got a minute?" She asked coolly, waiting for Kirsty to turn around.

"Always." Kirsty replied with a cocky smile. "What can I do for you, detective?"

Without a word, Sofia slammed the folder down on the table. Kirsty stared at it with a blank expression, clearly not understanding it's significance.

"You put that smoke bomb in CSI." Sofia stepped as close as she dared to the taller woman. "And Sara found out about it."

Kirsty's face contorted into a mix of concern and anger, but she quickly covered it with a dry laugh.

"What is _this_?" She chuckled.

"She was going to expose you, so that she could finally be free." The detective continued coldly, not giving her an opportunity to deny it. "But you couldn't let that happen could you?"

Kirsty lunged unexpectedly forwards. To anyone outside the room, it would look like they were just having a private conversation, but Sofia was close enough to see the glint in her green eyes.

"You don't know what you're talking about." She muttered in a low voice. "And whatever you think you know about Sara, you're wrong."

"I know that she's scared of you." Sofia retorted. "And somehow you managed to stop her from telling us the truth. What did you do? Beat her into compliance?"

"You don't know anything." Kirsty spat, prodding her superior roughly in the chest. "And you can't prove anything."

"Oh yeah?" Sofia challenged, batting her hand away. "Watch me."

She turned to leave, but a callous laugh stilled her movements.

"Do you find this funny?" She hissed, moving back to her previous position.

"No, of course not." Kirsty insisted in a mock-wounded voice. "Although, while you're here there is something I'd like to ask you about."

"Really?" The detective drawled sardonically.

"Yeah," Kirsty licked her lips slowly, tilting her head to the side in an almost curious action.

She'd been thinking about this ever since she'd laid eyes on Sara's secret phone. The idea had struck her several times, but she'd always discarded it as going too far. However, after her confrontation with Catherine tonight she was out for blood and this would certainly cause some pain.

"I would like to make a complaint." She said with barely disguised excitement.

"A complaint against who?" Sofia pressed edgily through gritted teeth.

"My girlfriend. She's been abusing me."

X x x

Catherine had frozen after her impromptu kiss, long enough for Sara to escape.

By the time she recovered her senses enough to follow; she only caught the briefest glimpse of brunette hair disappearing out of the layout room. And once again, Sara disappeared into the ethers.

She was just about to give up her search when a loud clattering from the locker room caught her attention. Lead by her gut instinct, she followed the sound.

"Sara?" she questioned nervously, stepping into the dimly lit room.

Sara froze for a moment, flicking her eyes around the open locker door before hurriedly resuming her activity.

"What are you doing?"

"Leaving." Came the abrupt response.

"What?" Cath moved quickly across the room to grip her arm tightly, although she was quickly shrugged off. "You can't leave."

"I can't stay." Sara contradicted. "I can't do this, not now everyone knows. It's too hard."

"Sara, you're just panicking. It'll be alright once you calm down and look at it rationally."

"No, no it won't." Sara shook her head.

It was rare that she acted impulsively, but when she did she really went for it.

Abandoning her attempts to physically restrain the younger woman, Catherine dropped despondently onto the bench and stared up at her with sad eyes.

"You don't have to do this, we can work something out."

"It's too hard." Sara repeated bluntly, throwing her meagre possessions into a bag. "The guys, I can't deal with them all talking about me like this." She paused, flicking her eyes briefly to Cat's face. "They think we're together, you know. They're talking about you too."

"I don't care about the boys' feelings." Catherine stated bluntly. "Right now, I don't care about your feelings; I want you to stay. And so do the guys, they're just in shock at the moment."

"Yeah, well, they can come to terms with it without me here complicating things."

Catherine stood up, gripping her arm firmly and swinging her around to break her intensive packing.

"We need you here; this is where you're meant to be."

Sara turned her eyes away, clearly not buying the desperate pleas. Running out of ideas, Catherine – for the second time in less than an hour – did something potentially stupid. She pinned her young colleague against the lockers and pressed a kiss to her lips.

X x x

This time, it was Catherine who ran off.

Though it didn't take Sara long to locate her, pacing anxiously on the roof.

The strawberry-blonde paused, throwing a glance towards the door when it opened.

"You're still here." She noted nervously. "That's a good sign."

"That was your plan wasn't it?" Sara commented, striding towards her. "Confuse me enough to make me come after you."

"No, it wasn't like that." Cath frowned, a look that Sara mirrored.

"You threw me against the lockers and kissed me. What exactly were you trying to prove?"

Catherine pursed her lips bashfully.

"I panicked. I couldn't think of anything else to say to make you stay."

"You do know that's the second time you've done that today." Sara added, stalking past her and leaning casually against the railings. Eventually, Catherine followed her.

"Yeah, I know." She breathed, her breath misting in the cool air.

"Why _did_ you do it?" To Cath's relief, Sara didn't sound angry about it. Just confused.

"I don't know; like I said, I panicked." She groaned weakly.

"Twice?" Sara quirked an eyebrow, drawing a smile from Cath.

"Alright, so maybe there's more to it than that." She conceded. Sara turned to her, utter loss written across her face. In the fading light, her skin looked ghostly pale. Catherine smiled, taking her hand where it rested on the railing.

"Sara, hon … I, um…"

At her inability to co-ordinate her thoughts and Sara's growing bemusement, she gripped the girl's hand tighter and flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Alright, in the interest of full disclosure." She swallowed. "Recently, I've developed feelings for you that I can't really explain."

"Cath, I…" Sara started to back off but found herself held tighter.

"No, listen." The older CSI placed her hands on either side of Sara's face, stroking her hair affectionately before moving her hands down to rest on her shoulders. "Sara, you know that I love you, right?"

"Yeah." Sara answered somewhat uneasily, instinctively leaning away.

"I know I haven't always shown affection towards you but you're one of my best friends. You're about my only female friend – I know how to act around the boys but with you, I never knew when I was crossing a line. And recently those lines have been crossed anyway, kind of accidently."

Sara nodded in understanding, dropping her head in shame as the memory of all those tender moments flooded back to mind.

Cath tugged her closer, determined to catch her gaze again. She had come to recognise Sara's evasive expressions in recent weeks and she didn't like the thoughts visible on her face right now.

"Sara, you're beautiful. And you're sweet, and … and I need to stop talking now." She mumbled, noting how Sara's eyes were wide in shock as they peered up at her from beneath long lashes.

"No." Sara frowned. "No, I … I don't want you to."

Catherine's lips turned into a shy smile and she closed the gap between them until their bodies were almost pressed together and they could feel the body heat emanating off each other in the chilly air.

"I want to be able to show you how much you mean to me, I just don't always know how."

"Well, that was certainly one way."

They shared a small laugh, feeling some of the tension drain away.

"So, was it enough to make you stay?"

"Catherine, I …" Sara paused, licking her lips. Catherine felt her stomach twist at the unconscious act but she clamped down on the rush of feelings. "I like you, but you already knew that." Sara sighed. "But, with everything that's going on with Kirsty, I just …"

"Forget about Kirsty." Cath interrupted. "Sara, I've been struggling with these feelings for a while now and … how long can we wait? Until Kirsty leaves you? Until she kills you?"

Sara flinched at the words and Catherine softened her voice.

"Besides, Kirsty already thinks we're having an affair." She pointed out with a sly smile.

"Yeah, as do half the lab." Sara added, stepping away and dragging a hand through her hair.

"So," Catherine followed her, manoeuvring Sara against the railings so she couldn't move away this time. Her lips hovered inches from Sara's, her hands sliding around her back. "Why don't we prove them all right?"


	27. And the temperature's beginning to soar

**Later than planned, but hopefully worth the wait**

**Let me know what you think :)**

**x x x x**

Sara practically leapt across the apartment, fumbling with the lock before throwing the front door open.

However, in her rush to get to the door, she managed to forget every word in the English language.

As she stuttered helplessly, Catherine just smiled knowingly at her from the dimly lit hallway.

"Hi there." The blonde stepped forwards, pecking her lips in greeting.

"Hey." Sara finally managed to say, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment at her sudden muteness.

Cath continued to smirk at her, one eyebrow quirked in question.

"You going to let me in?"

"Right, sorry." Sara breathed, stepping aside. She swallowed hard as Cath's body brushed against her own, something which did not go completely unnoticed by the other woman.

"Wow, you almost couldn't tell what had happened here." She noted light-heartedly, surveying the flat. Sara had done a good job tidying up, although there were still subtle signs of the devastation that had occurred the day before. Gaps in the bookshelf and scuff marks on every hard surface.

Notably, the guitar was still present, although it had been swept into a small pile of debris in the corner. Evidently Sara wasn't quite ready to part with her most treasured item just yet.

Cath perched on the arm of the couch, crossing her legs patiently. It was obvious that Sara was anxious about this and she didn't want to rush her. Not to mention, the young brunette was undeniably cute when she was this nervous.

After a couple of minutes of watching the younger woman flit around the kitchen under the guise of making coffee, Cath cleared her throat.

"I don't bite you know." She quipped, offering a warm smile.

Sara paused, a guilty look crossing her features. Eventually she moved closer, placing the mugs onto the re-situated coffee table before dropping tiredly onto the couch.

"Sorry, I just … this feels so wrong." She mumbled, fidgeting awkwardly with the ends of her long sleeves.

"Wrong?" Catherine frowned, sliding down to join her.

"Not like that." Sara quickly corrected. "Just … the boys, Kirsty, everything…"

"I know." Cath cut her off, gripping her hand tightly where it sat between them. "But the boys don't know that I'm here." She'd fobbed Grissom off with some excuse about Lindsey. Ordinarily she would feel bad using her daughter like that, but this simply couldn't wait until tomorrow. It had nearly killed her having to wait this long. "Nothing has to happen yet." She continued gently.

"I know." Sara nodded gratefully, although the uncertainty in her eyes said different.

"But," Cath added with a sly smile, moving her hand to graze Sara's thigh with her fingertips. "You and I have some things that we need to discuss in private."

Things had gotten a little out of control on the roof last shift, and Cath was right they did need to talk. However, the electricity between them was undeniable and Sara could see Catherine watching her out of the corner of her eye, her lower lip pinned between her teeth seductively.

Feeling awkward under her scrutiny and needing to fill the silence with something; if for nothing else than to distract herself from their close proximity, she cleared her throat.

"I didn't slip in the shower. Kirsty pushed me."

"She what?" Catherine practically yelped, twisting in her seat to better see her companion. "She was there, in the lab?"

"Apparently." Sara shrugged. "I only caught a glimpse of her before I went down."

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

"I don't know." She murmured bashfully. "I was scared of what else she might do. She was already getting suspicious. And then Hank kept calling me…"

"Hank?" Cath queried, her voice suddenly turned darker somehow. "What did he want?"

"What do you think?" She swallowed. "Kirsty never liked it when my past came up – she hated the fact that there was a part of me she couldn't control. And then she found out about me and…"

The brunette trailed of, suddenly aware that she hadn't actually told Catherine this yet.

The blonde, however, was way ahead of her.

"Sofia?" She filled in when Sara fell quiet. The younger woman blinked in surprise.

"How do you know about that?"

"She told me." Cath admitted with a small shrug. "She knows about Kirsty, too."

"She does?" Sara slunk down in her seat slightly. The thought of her ex knowing all about her current relationship made her feel slightly sick.

However, that did beg the question: why hadn't Sofia said anything? Lord knows, she was not exactly the type to hold back.

X x x

Sofia clenched and unclenched her fists nervously as she shuffled her feet outside the door. This was stupid, she told herself. She should just walk in and tell him straight, no messing about. In retrospect, she should have done this months ago; but her loyalty to Sara had encouraged her to keep quiet.

However, in light of the new developments, she realised that Sara was going to need more than just her silence to get through this unscathed.

Taking a deep breath, she raised a shaky hand to knock. At the grunt of approval she slipped around the door, making a point to close it behind her.

"Hey Sofia." Brass greeted with a familiar lazy smile. "What's up?"

"Jim." She cleared her throat apprehensively, moving closer to the desk but electing not to sit down yet. Depending how he reacted, she might need to make a quick exit. "I need your help. Well, actually Sara needs your help."

X x x

"Oh, God." She groaned, cutting through the silence that had fallen between them. Cath threw a concerned glance in her direction.

"What?"

"Right before she tore my apartment to pieces, Kirsty started to tell me something … about Sofia." Sara turned, eyes wide, to her partner. "Do you think Sofia said something to her? About ... everything?"

"I don't know honey." Cath shrugged helplessly, moving her hand to rest more firmly on Sara's thigh. "I don't know, but we'll sort this out."

"See, this is what I mean." Sara sighed, sinking back into the couch cushions. "It's too complicated, there's too much going on and I just ... I don't…"

"I know, Sar, I know." Catherine assured her, shuffling closer. "But we don't have to rush things."

She knew that Sara was right; it probably wasn't the best time to try pursuing a relationship. But once their true feelings had been vocalised, it felt like they were too close to back out now.

And things were pretty much over between Sara and Kirsty – as far as Sara was concerned anyway. So it wasn't technically cheating. It was just terrible timing.

Catherine moved her hand to Sara's arm, where she began doodling idle patterns on the inside of her wrist.

"Sara, you do want this, right?" She hadn't intended for it to come out so nervous.

"Of course I do." Sara assured her. "I just … I'm scared."

She cast her eyes down at Catherine's unconscious actions, tensing involuntarily at the influx of memories suddenly flooding her mind. The blonde followed her line of sight, noting that her fingertips were dancing over an old, faded scar. It was too old to have been left there by Kirsty.

She had noticed them before, of course. It was difficult not to. Every new piece of skin she had seen had revealed more secrets; more bruises dictating the story of Sara's history. They had never discussed it, although it had played on Catherine's mind often.

"She's not the first person to hurt you, is she?" She mumbled sadly.

Sara flinched, instinctively pulling her wrist free.

"I don't want to talk about that." She replied a little too harshly. However, now the subject had been broached Cath wasn't willing to drop it just yet.

"Sara, you don't have to hide anything from me." She pointed out calmly. "I've seen more than enough of you to know what's happened to you in the past."

Sara blushed at the comment, her dark eyes clouding over with something akin to shame.

Realising that she wasn't going to get far with that line of conversation, Cath changed tack slightly.

"Honey, you need to learn that it's okay to open up to some people. I'm not going to hurt you like they have."

"I know." Sara sniffed. "The logical part of me knows that, I just - it's instinctive to want to hide it."

"I know babe." Cath nodded carefully. "So, tell me what I can do to help."

"I don't know, I'm sorry." Sara shrugged sadly, burying her gaze in her lap. "I just … I want to be intimate with someone without feeling scared." She swallowed hard. "I can't really remember what that feels like."

Catherine shook her head, tears stinging at her blue eyes at the thought of what she must have gone through. Feeling the need to offer some comfort, she leant across and captured Sara's lips with her own.

She felt the girl stiffen briefly, before slowly relaxing into the kiss.

"You know," Cath mumbled against her lips. "Physical contact doesn't have to leave bruises."

Sara didn't trust herself to form an answer so she settled for a weak nod of agreement.

She did know that. She wouldn't have trusted Catherine with her secret if she didn't trust the woman. More than that, she felt comforted by her touch. Which is probably what lead her to deepen the kiss.

And they both know that what would happen next was inevitable.

But it still took Sara by surprise when she felt Catherine's hands slide up her back.

X x x

"Come on Greg, I know that you know something about this."

"Nick, pack it in!" The young man snapped. "I'm not telling you anything."

"Just give it a rest Nick." Warrick joined in impatiently. "Sara's not even in tonight, so you're not going to get any answers from her today."

"What about Cath?" The Texan pointed out.

"Grissom said she's coming in late – something about not having a babysitter for Linds until her sister gets off work."

"Which is why I'm asking Greg."Nick continued, turning back to the ex-lab rat.

"Well, find another spy because I'm not telling you squat." He insisted, filling his mug with coffee and moving towards the door.

"Come on man, we're going to find out anyway. You may as well tell us."

"There's nothing to tell!" Greg snapped. "Look, whatever's going on in Sara's life at the moment it's none of your business."

Nick narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his young mate.

"Is this anything to do with that illness Sara had a while back?"

"What illness?" Warrick piped up, his brotherly concern suddenly kicking in again.

"Yeah, it is." Greg ran a hand over his head, ruffling his styled hair. "But it's okay, she's … she's alright."

"Greg, what illness?" Warrick repeated, rising from the couch and stalking towards him with a threatening swagger.

Pinned against the centre bench by both of them now, Greg swallowed hard. This was precisely why he shouldn't be trusted with secrets; he was far too easy to break.

"It's, it's not an illness as such." He shifted awkwardly under their intense gaze. "It's something else."

X x x

Catherine sat up, wrapping the blankets around herself.

Sara was sat on the edge of the bed, her breathing laboured and her body visibly shaking.

"Sara, honey…" Cath reached out to her, but Sara cut her off abruptly before she could say any more.

"I'm sorry."

"No babe, it's alright." She assured her, shuffling across the bed while trying to keep as much of her underwear-clad body covered as possible. She reached out a tentative hand, placing it on the girl's arm. "We were probably moving too fast anyway."

Sara nodded slowly, although there was still guilt written across her features.

Somehow that comforting kiss had ended up in bed, until Sara had freaked out and put a sudden halt to proceedings.

"I want to," she mumbled, turning to face her. Tears were streaming silently down her face. "I just … with Kirsty, I …"

"Shush, it's okay." Cath pressed a finger to her lips, silencing her excuses. "You don't have to explain."

In truth, she wasn't sure she wanted to hear anymore about Sara and Kirsty's sex life. If it was anything like the rest of their relationship, it would probably make her feel ill.

However, Sara needed to get this off her chest.

"I can't stand her touch." She swallowed, shaking her head vehemently. "Whenever we're in bed all I can do is close my eyes and wait for it to be over."

"Sara, hon." Catherine stopped her again. "It's alright. We can wait."

She leant across the gap between them, wrapping Sara into a hug. This time when they skin brushed together Sara didn't pull away.

"Thank you." She mumbled against Cath's ear.

Without loosening her grip, the blonde tugged her back under the covers, until they were curled up together against the headboard.

Eventually Sara lifted her head, which she'd managed to tuck into the crook of Cath's neck.

"I'm sorry. I know I'm not the easiest of people to be around right now." She mumbled sadly. Cath released a slow breath, blowing wisps of flyaway brunette hair aside.

"Sara, you are not the problem." She reiterated, pressing her lips to the woman's temple. "And we can wait as long as you need."

Sara smiled bashfully, nodding in agreement.

"You need to recover first." Cat continued. "But I can help with that. You just have to trust me." She let her hands begin to roam up and down Sara's back, tracing the path of her spine with light caresses.

Sara let her eyes drift closed, and Catherine thought she'd fallen asleep when a soft voice whispered against her neck.

"I do trust you."

X x x

Sara carefully climbed out from Catherine's fierce grip, managing to escape with only a few disgruntled grumbles from the blonde. She pulled a t-shirt on over her current, limited attire and tucked the blankets back around her dozing supervisor.

As much as she loved the feeling of being wrapped in Catherine's arms, she was too wired to sleep and her shuffling would only wake the woman.

And, since she couldn't play her guitar anymore, she did the only other thing that might settle her.

She began to cook.

X x x

Kirsty stared at the tiny little flame flickering on the end of the match.

In the narrow, dim hallway it was casting shadows far bigger than itself.

After lodging her complaint with Sofia, some regrets had started to settle on her conscience. She'd even considered retracting it.

But then she'd had another idea. She was sure that Sofia would have told Sara by now, and the brunette was probably scared to death about what this could do to her career – not to mention her relationship with her precious team.

And thus, Kirsty had the perfect bargaining chip. If Sara were to forget about Catherine and take her back, she would retract the accusation and they could start again. Sweep everything under the rug, so to speak.

Conveniently, it was Sara's night off. The perfect chance to talk to her alone.

She'd been sat outside the flat in her car, contemplating how to do this. She needed to start out apologetic – Sara's defences would be on full power at the moment so she'd need to sound genuine if she was going to get through the door.

But just as she was ready to face this task, ready to put the whole untidy mess to bed and start again, something caught her eye across the parking lot.

Her.

That red-haired home-wrecker, sashaying up to Sara's apartment with a laidback smile on her face.

That was over and hour ago and there was no sign of Catherine coming out anytime soon.

The match was nearly burnt out now.

Stepping away from the wall she'd been leaning against, she cast a final glance up at the building.

One tiny little match wouldn't do a great deal of damage to a building this size.

But a petrol bomb would.

With a final cold stare, she flicked the match in the general direction of the gas canister, sitting inoffensively by the wall.

Glancing again down the hall, she could almost picture Catherine and Sara together, wrapped in each other's embrace. Not for long though, she smiled to herself as a bright flash illuminated the corridor.


	28. He was starting to foam in the heat

**ArtemisFire: Aw, you noticed that **** :) I've been planning that with the titles since the beginning, so I'm glad someone picked up on it :)**

**Shell: Can't help you there I'm afraid, because angst is pretty much all I write.**

**Admittedly not my best work; kind of a filler chapter to tie in events from chapter one. **

**x x x x**

"I'll kill her." Jim snarled, pacing like a caged animal behind his desk.

"You can't do anything rash." Sofia pointed out. "She's made a formal complaint against Sara and it'll have to be submitted."

"Come on," the police captain scoffed. "Like anyone would believe that about Sara."

"That's beside the point." She sighed, sliding into the seat she had been leaning against. "Either way, her personal life is going to get dragged out for all to see unless we get this dealt with quickly and quietly." She flicked her long blonde hair over her shoulder, sitting forwards and resting her clasped hands on the desk. "That's why I need your help."

He scrutinised her for a long moment. He'd long suspected that there was a history between Sara and the female detective, although he was unclear on the details. He'd never pressed the issue, however, despite feeling somewhat paternal towards the fiery brunette; because he didn't believe Sofia would hurt the girl.  
But someone _was_ hurting his girl and that was not something that should be kept from him.

"You should have told me this sooner." He brandished a finger at her accusingly, dropping back into his leather chair.

"I know." She dropped her gaze remorsefully. "But I'm telling you now."

With a reluctant sigh of agreement, he rested his elbows on the desk and fixed her with a cynical look.

"Alright, so what's your idea?"

Before she could offer any solutions to the situation – not that she had many – a young officer poked his head inside the office.

"Sorry to interrupt Captain." He mumbled sheepishly. "There's a major fire in a downtown apartment block, it's all hands on deck."

"What's the address?" Sofia piped up, visions of her own apartment briefly flashing into her mind. It was a natural instinct in this job to instantly think the worst in any situation.

The guy glanced down at the slip of paper in his hand, scanning over the details.

"Cambridge Park." He nodded at them again before slipping out.

"Oh God," Sofia turned to Jim with a horror-stuck expression. "Cambridge Park … that's Sara's building."

X x x

Sara gripped the counter, blinking against the fog swimming in front of her eyes. It didn't clear.

She turned, swaying slightly as she scanned the small apartment.

Smoke was beginning to seep through the crack under the door; yet the smoke alarm was deathly silent.

Maintaining her hold on the counter for balance, she tried to make her way back to Catherine. Even in her disorientated state, she understood the need to get out. But she wasn't leaving without her friend.

X x x

"Then what is it Greg?" Nick pressed forcefully when the younger man didn't speak again.

"Guys." Grissom interrupted, poking his head around the door utterly oblivious to the tension he had just walked into. "Potential 402A in progress at a high-rise apartment building Downtown."

"Arson." Warrick shifted naturally into professionalism mode, raising an eyebrow. Beside him, Nick and Greg straightened up too; their conversation on hold for the time being. "What's the address?" Grissom narrowed his eyes at the note in his hand.

"Cambridge Park Towers. Vartann is meeting us there."

"Wait, hold up." Nick jumped in swiftly before the boss could disappear back into the hallway. "Cambridge Park?"

"Yeah." Grissom cocked an eyebrow. "Do you know it?"

The Texan swallowed hard, sharing a knowing look with the equally-panicked Greg. "That's Sara's building."

X x x

She coughed and spluttered against the smoke that was now spreading rapidly through her flat.

As her vision got impossibly distorted and her head swam, she sank to her knees, gasping desperately for breath.

"Catherine!" She managed to call out, struggling desperately against her fading strength. "Cat! Please ... wake up!"

The heat seemed to be all around her now, consuming every inch of air in the apartment.

She was suffocating.

X x x

It was difficult to tell precisely where the inferno had started, what with pieces of the building falling from the sky and spreading the fire both down and up.

Grissom glanced down at his phone again, willing Catherine to call him back. He didn't know exactly what had been going on with the women on his team, but he wasn't so dense that he hadn't noticed their odd behaviour of late.

Either way, if Sara's life was at risk she should be here right now.

Looking up, he cast a glance at Greg and saw that he was doing the same thing; trying desperately to reach Sara, in the hopes that she had gone out or managed to get herself somewhere safe.

It was a feeble hope, but it was all they had to hold on to right now.

X x x

Warrick coughed, attempting to make his tall body as small as possible as he felt his way down the hall.

With Nick's vague description of where Sara's flat was, he managed to find the door he was looking for and kicked it in without a second thought.

At some point in the coming hours, it would cross his mind that he never checked for a backdraft. Had he caused a flashover, the entire apartment would have gone up and no one would have made it out alive.

Thankfully, he couldn't see any flames in the flat. There was, however, a copious amount of smoke.

He felt his way across the dusty furniture, blindly locating the bed in the middle of the room.

There was a distinctly female form unmoving beneath the covers. Throwing them back, he scooped the limp body up and held her tightly against him in an attempt to shield her from the smothering heat.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, it registered that the woman in his arms was not Sara. Strawberry-blonde hair spilled against his shoulder where her head lay heavily against it.

Catherine.

Retracing his steps, he barely reached the apartment door when Hank materialised in the threshold.

X x x

"Where the hell is he?" Nick snarled, pacing circles around the remaining members of his team.

Brass, Vartann and the newly arrived Sofia were stood in a line behind the CSIs, silently sharing their concern. Sofia leant close to Brass, just close enough that Vartann could catch a few words of what she muttered in his ear before stalking off into the crowd.

Once she departed, Vartann turned to his boss.

"Who's Kirsty?" He queried.

X x x

Drawing some of his basic fire training to memory, Hank placed one hand on the wall to find his way through the winding corridor.

He knew the way around Sara's building; he'd been here enough times when they were dating, but the smoke was disorientating and if he were to lose his connection with the wall he would be astray in a maze of fractured halls.

He just about made it to the apartment door when a figure walked out of the smoke towards him.

The paramedic looked from Warrick to the woman in his arms and promptly pushed past him into the flat.

He would work out what was going on later. Right now, he had limited oxygen which meant limited time. But Sara must be in here somewhere.

Dropping to his knees, he took a couple of gulps of the cleaner air and felt his vision clearing ever so slightly.

In the lighter smoke at the bottom of the room, he caught sight of a figure in the kitchen.

Curled into a ball, dark hair splayed across the floor, it was definitely Sara … and she was very still.


	29. Everybody at the back of the line

**Not a great chapter admittedly, but hopefully it'll tie in nicely with the next one **

**x x x x**

Catherine fluttered her heavy eyelids open, but her world remained inexplicably dark.

"Sara?" She attempted to call out, but her voice was hoarse and weak. "Sar?" She struggled to sit up, blinking against the incessant blackness that continued to cloud her vision; but it felt like there was a rock on her ribcage, weighing her down.

"Hey, hey." She heard a familiar voice nearby and a firm hand was placed on her chest. "Lay down."

"Nance?" She croaked, fumbling for the hand and gripping it tightly. "What happened? Where's Sara?"

"It's okay, just lay down." Her sister repeated, continuing her attempts to restrain the woman despite Cath's valiant efforts against it.

"Nancy, where's Sara?" She squeaked. "Why can't I see?"

"You're okay Cathy." Nancy assured her, perching on the edge of the bed and taking both her siblings hands. "You were in a fire. Your sight loss is only temporary."

"Fire." Catherine repeated quietly, swallowing around the bitter taste in her mouth. "Where's Sara?" Despite her current blindness, she could sense her sister's reluctance to answer. "Nancy, where is Sara?" She repeated as sternly as she could in her weak state. "Is she alright?"

"Let's just worry about you first." Nancy's attempt to change the subject fell flat and Catherine still managed to send her a withering look.

"Please tell me she's alright." She begged.

"She's … she's being treated." Nancy relented at last. "I'm afraid I don't know any more than that at the moment."

Catherine threw her head back against the pillows, tears stinging at her sore eyes.

"What the hell happened?" She gulped. She could practically taste the unburned carbon in the back of her throat; hot and smoky, like cremated toast.

"I don't know honey." She felt a tender hand brush her hair aside. "But there are some people outside who are hoping you might know the answer to that."

X x x

"I knew something was going on." Nick sighed, sitting back in his seat and dragging a hand over his tired face.

"Man, will you give that a rest." Warrick groaned, wincing in pain. He hadn't realised that he'd been burned until the ambulance had peeled out of the parking lot and one of the remaining EMTs had noticed that his clothes were smouldering. Catherine's sister had offered to treat his wounds, but he wasn't having any of it. So, as a compromise, she'd settled for dressing the burns and providing him with some strong painkillers to take the edge off.  
He was still waiting for them to kick in.

"Come on, you've got to admit I'm right this time." The Texan continued. "You found Catherine in Sara's bed in her underwear, Warrick. I mean, what more proof do you need?"

"Just drop it, will you!" Rick snapped, holding his throbbing head in his hands.

Realising that he wasn't going to get anywhere with his best friend right now, Nick turned to the man on his left instead.

"Greg, you've got to know something about this."

The youngest member of the team lifted his head slowly, his red-rimmed eyes bloodshot and glazed from hours of silent crying.

He offered a shrug, having lost the ability to form words when he watched his best friend carried out of a burning building.

Before Nick could push for any more answers, Grissom appeared around the corner and all three men rose to their feet expectantly.

"There's still no word on Sara." The boss began soberly. "But Catherine's awake."

X x x

They peered around the door, before one-by-one passing through it.

"Hey." Warrick was the first to greet her, striding up to the bed.

Catherine, who had been staring blankly towards the wall, turned at the voice. True to Nancy's word, her vision had begun to clear, to the point where she could make out vague shapes now.

"Rick?" She queried, reaching out a hand towards the approaching figure. "How's Sara?"

He offered a sympathetic smile, even though he knew that she couldn't see it.

"We don't know; we're still waiting for news." He sighed, sinking into the chair beside the bed. "How're you doing?"

She shrugged, staring down at her hands, which were toying nervously with the blanket.

From the back of the group, Greg stepped up to the bottom of the bed. The movement caught her attention and she attempted a weak smile at the young man, but his only response was to shake his head in disbelief.

"You lied to me." He said bitterly.

"What?" She squeaked helplessly, squinting in a vain attempt to read his expression.

"I asked you directly whether there was anything going on between you and Sara and you swore to me that there wasn't!"

"I didn't lie, Greg." She promised, her cheeks developing a pink tint beneath the ash smears that still coated her creamy skin. "At the time there was nothing to tell."

"Yeah, right." The young man scoffed disbelievingly.

"I'm serious." She sat forward, resting her hands on her knees. "Then, Sara and I _were_ just friends. Now … things changed."

"In two days?" He challenged accusingly. "Changed how?"

"It's hard to explain." She sat back again, a deep frown marring her features. "Everything just happened so quickly, things got out of control before we even knew what was happening."

"You know what," Nick held up his hands, stepping to the foot of the bed beside Greg. "Since you two seem to know something that we don't, why don't you catch us up to speed?"

Catherine had dropped her gaze again as she chewed anxiously on the inside of her cheek.

"Cath?" Greg pressed, waiting to see if she would take the lead. She glanced up briefly, offering little more than a helpless shrug to his silent question. Realising that he was on his own here, he took a deep breath and turned to address his colleagues.

"That woman in the parking lot the other day – her name's Kirsty Soames. She and Sara are dating." He began. "She's … she's been abusing Sara for months. Cath and I both knew about it."

"What?" Unexpectedly, it was Grissom who reacted first, rounding on the smaller man. "You let this happen and you didn't say anything?"

"No! I…" Greg retorted instinctively, his brown eyes widening in horror at the allegation that he was somehow responsible.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Warrick cut him off, slamming his hand onto the bedside table in anger and propelling himself to his feet.

"How could we?" Catherine asked weakly, looking up with fresh tears in her eyes. "Sara wouldn't let us."

"So, you guys just stood back and let it happen?" Nick asked incredulously, pushing himself off the bedpost and beginning to pace around the small room.

"No, of course not!" Catherine barked. "I was keeping an eye on the situation; I wasn't going to let it get out of hand!"

"Oh, Jesus." Warrick swept a hand over his springy hair. "How long have you guys known about this?"

Catherine and Greg shared a look; and eventually the woman answered.

"I found out about five months ago." She admitted quietly. "Greg's only known for a couple of months."

"Five months!" Nick repeated. "And you told Greg, of all people!"

"Hey!" The youngest CSI piped up, sliding unexpectedly to Catherine's defence. "Don't blame her for this! I know Sara as well as any of you! And she didn't need to tell me because I found out on my own: I actually talk to Sara, instead of just gossiping about her behind her back!"

Nick knew that that was a direct shot at him, but he was too riled to care right now.

"You should have told us what was going on!" He snarled. "Sara's our friend, if someone was hurting her we should have known about it."

"It's not that simple Nick." Greg insisted, once again defending their actions. "Kirsty's a cop!"

"A cop?" Warrick repeated, stunned. "Man, I knew she looked familiar."

"Do you get it now?" Catherine asked in a low voice, catching Nick's eye as best she could under the circumstances. "Sara didn't want to tell you guys because she didn't want the whole station to find out what was going on!"

"But it's not her fault." Grissom frowned. "She has no reason to be ashamed of it."

"It's nothing to do with that." Greg spat. "Sara's tough. Too tough, sometimes. She tried to be strong and deal with it all on her own. She wanted to keep her life private."

"Yeah, well it might be too late for that now." Sofia's sad voice radiated from the doorway, making her presence known.

"Why, what's happened now?" Cath asked weakly, straightening up at the familiar sound of the female detective.

Coming further into the room, Sofia moved directly into the Cath's line of sight. She'd already spoken to the doctors about the strawberry-blonde's prognosis so she was aware that she couldn't see well right now. Despite their tricky history, she wasn't about to make things harder for her.

"Kirsty Soames made a formal complaint against Sara yesterday."

"_Kirsty _made a complaint?" Nick repeated, scrunching his nose up. "About what?"

Sofia shifted her weight uncomfortably, pursing her lips.

"She claims that Sara's the abusive one. That she's been beating Kirsty."

X x x

Grissom tipped his head forwards, resting it against the cold window. Outside, a constant stream of ambulances pulled in and out of the lot. Endless torrents of injured and dying people, but he didn't have it in him to feel empathic right now. There was only one person he was concerned about in this moment.

"Hell, you look worse than the girls." A voice commented light-heartedly.

Gil turned, quirking an eyebrow at Brass.

"Have you seen them?"

"I've just been in Catherine's room." The police captain nodded. "They're not letting anyone see Sara yet."

For a moment neither spoke as they regarded each other across the corridor.

Eventually Grissom cleared his throat. "You know."

"Yeah." Jim sighed, joining him in leaning against the wall. He didn't need to ask what he was referring to, it was written all over his face. "Sofia told me about Kirsty right before the fire."

"So, you knew about Catherine and Sara?" The supervisor queried.

"No," Brass breathed, puffing his chest out. "No, that was a surprise to Sofia as much as anyone. Not that it really matters who knows now; their private life is about to be hauled over the coals for everyone to see anyway."

"Yeah, but if they can prove that Sara was seeing Catherine at the same time as Kirsty, it's not going to help her case." Grissom pointed out with a detached calmness than only he could possess.

"It won't matter." Brass growled. "Nothing's going to happen to Sara."

Grissom turned to his old friend, quirking an eyebrow.

"Jim, I want to help her as much as you do. But without proof it's going to be her word against Kirsty's and …"

"No." Jim held up his hands, cutting him off. "Nothing's going to happen, because that complaint isn't going to go through."

"Kirsty won't drop the complaint without a good reason." Grissom sighed despondently.

"Yeah, I know." Brass licked his lips, pushing himself off the wall. "And when I find her I'm going to give her a damn good reason."

Grissom's blue eyes narrowed suspiciously and he followed the police officer across the corridor.

"You can't threaten her." He stated. "That will only make things worse."

"I'm not going to threaten her. I'm going to arrest her."

Jim continued to walk back down the hall, casting a glance over the boys. They had relocated to the seats outside Catherine's room leaving Nancy to fuss around her sister. The sheer despondency surrounding them was almost tangible as they sat in conjoined silence, contemplating the situation. He could sense Grissom behind him, regarding him curiously.

"I just spoke to the fire chief" he breathed, turning back to Gil with a hard look. "That fire did not start by accident. And I know exactly who is top of my suspect list."


	30. All the silence, and it's wounding

"What do you know?"

Warrick's deep voice startled Brass, who turned to find the dark-skinned CSI watching him cautiously from a few feet away.

Realising that the guys had all heard what he had said, Jim straightened up and cleared his throat.

"The fire started on the fourth floor." He began calmly.

"Sara's floor." Nick noted.

"Yeah. It also started on the tenth floor." The detective continued. "And the sixth, the ninth, the seventh and in the parking lot."

One by one, the men shared a look of confusion.

"Multiple seats?" Grissom queried. "How is that possible?"

"Petrol cans and a lot of matches." Jim ran a hand over his cropped hair, releasing a breath. "Which means there's no way this was an accident. Someone intended to burn that building to the ground. And I tell you something else," he continued. "Those girls are damn lucky to be alive."

Grissom nodded in agreement, casting a glance instinctively over Warrick.

"As are you." The supervisor added pointedly.

Rick waved a hand dismissively, although by a cruel twist of irony the action caused his burns to sting and he winced involuntarily.

"Anyway." Brass huffed, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "As long as Kirsty Soames is out there, she's still a threat. I've put in a call in to the Sherriff, half the squad's out looking for her." He ambled past them towards the front doors. "I'm going to head back to the apartment to see what's going on. Call me with any news on Sara."

"Yeah, will do Jim." Nick hummed absently as the cop passed him, his mind clearly elsewhere.

With little else to do for the time being, Grissom joined his guys on the row of uncomfortable plastic seats.

"Is there any word on Hank yet?"

"He's still being treated." Warrick replied. "Last I saw him they were talking about smoke damage to his lungs."

Gil nodded, not really knowing what to add to that. He cared not for the young paramedic, but he did owe the man Sara's life and that was not a debt he could ever pay off.

X x x

"I don't care! I want to see her!" Catherine twisted pitifully away from her sister's firm grip and began systematically removing each wire and tube she was connected to.

"Cath, you can't discharge yourself yet." Nancy attempted desperately to stop her actions before she managed to hurt herself further. "You can't see!"

"I can see enough. I want to see Sara." The older sibling continued, finally freeing herself and shuffling out from beneath the covers.

"Catherine, stop!" Nancy grasped her shoulders and held her securely on the bed. "Look, Sara's still unconscious. They're not going to let anyone in. Don't worry, she's not going anywhere tonight."

"I don't care." Cath repeated, her voice cracking with emotion. "I need to see for myself that she's alright."

The nurse dropped her shoulders. She had always been a sucker for her big sister's expressive blue eyes, even when she knew that she was right.

"Okay, if I find out the details will you stay put?" She bargained.

"No." Cath insisted, prising her hands away. "Now will you let me go?"

It was clear that Catherine was not going to back down on this one. Nancy didn't know exactly what had been going on with her and Sara, although she had heard the brunette's name mentioned an awful lot of late. Perhaps she should begin paying more attention when Cath ranted about work.

"Alright, alright." Nancy stepped back, holding her hands up in defence. "If you really want to discharge yourself then I can't stop you. On one condition."

X x x

"What did Kirsty do to her?"

The question tore through the pensive silence that had befallen them like a rusty knife. Greg lifted his head, catching Grissom's eye.

"She's violent. She hits Sara; sometimes she throws things at her." The young man swallowed the bile threatening to rise as images of Sara's bruised body flashed through his mind. "You remember when Sara claimed that she tripped on the stairs to her flat…"

"Oh, man." Warrick recoiled, shaking his head in disgust. He'd been working with Sara that night – he'd spent all shift giving her grief about her clumsy 'accident'.

"You guys should have told us this." Nick snapped at last. "If we'd known what was going on we could have stopped it from getting this far out of hand."

"That's not the issue now." Greg spat, not willing to engage in this argument again. "Right now we need to find a way to help Sara. You can bitch at us when this is all over and done with."

"Isn't there anything concrete we can use against Kirsty?" Warrick asked, siding with Greg for the time being. As pissed as he was about being kept in the dark about all of this, Sara's welfare was always going to be his first priority.

"I have photos on my phone." A voice piped up from the end of the hall.

They all looked up in shock, both at the statement and who it had come from.

"What are you doing up?" Grissom asked, moving to offer his seat for the woman.

"I discharged myself." She shrugged, sinking down beside Nick. She was wearing the spare clothes Sofia had brought from her locker, almost giving the impression that she was unharmed, although there were still clear signs of her ordeal in the smoke staining her skin.  
The eye drops, forced upon her by her sister, remained clutched in her hand unopened. Nancy knew full well how much she hated putting things in her eyes; which was probably why she had created the ultimatum.

"Photos." Nick repeated with a frown. "Of what?"

"Of Sara's bruises." She swallowed. "Whenever Kirsty hit her, she would come to me and I would document the injuries."

This was news to the boys, who shared a somewhat startled look. Greg, however, did not appear either surprised or comforted by this.

"Yeah but Kirsty already knows that." He pointed out. "And Sofia says she's going to argue self-defence."

"Come on." Warrick emitted a humourless laugh. "Are you kidding me with this shit? Sara couldn't beat someone up – she doesn't have a violent bone in her body."

"Yeah, well you and I know that but how are we going to prove it?"

"The images will still help." Grissom cut in. "Where's your phone now?"

Catherine paused, her face falling slightly.

"In Sara's apartment."

"Great." Nick scoffed, standing up and kicking out angrily at his chair. "This is just fucking fantastic!" The seats, nailed to the floor, didn't move but the force was felt by everyone else on the row.

"Calm down Nicky." Grissom chastised. "I'll have Archie check the phone as soon as it's found. We've recovered data from devices that had been damaged before."

Nick had to concede his point, though it didn't make him any less irritable as he deflated back into his seat.

"Isn't there anything else?" Warrick pushed. "Didn't you guys ever see Kirsty being violent or anything?"

"Yeah right." Greg scoffed. "Like she was going to do something right in front of us. She's not stupid."

"Hopefully she is, because that might be Sara's only saving grace."

They all turned at the distinctive sound of heels on the hard floor as Sofia approached them.

"What do you mean?" Warrick asked, rising slowly to his feet as she reached them.

"As long as Kirsty's complaint goes through, Sara's technically a suspect. And right now there's very little physical evidence to prove or disprove it."

"So, it'll come down to Kirsty's word against Sara's." Cath nodded sadly. It was always the same way with domestic abuse cases. Other people's testimony aside, there was usually little corroborative evidence to support either party.

"So, what are our options?" Greg sighed.

"Well, she can fight it, but there are no guarantees."

"Or?" Catherine sat forwards stiffly, sensing that there was more to come.

"Or," Sofia breathed. "She can accept the charge and hope for leniency."

"What?" Greg scoffed. "That's ridiculous!"

"Those are the breaks." The detective shrugged. "Unless of course, Jim is right about his arson theory in which case the complaint will likely get buried."

"Well, either way she's not pleading guilty." Cath snapped. "She hasn't done anything wrong; she's the victim in all this!"

"I know." Sofia agreed defensively. "But you might need to convince a jury of that."

The group fell quiet for a moment, considering the mess they were in. Eventually Catherine hauled herself carefully to her feet.

"I can't just sit here, I need to see Sara."

"They won't let you in." Nick hollered at her slowly retreating back.

Her only response was a disregarding wave as she continued on her mission. Blind or not, she was going to see her girlfriend.

Sharing a silent shrug, the men picked themselves up and followed her down the hall.

If she was going to see Sara, there was no way they were being left out.

X x x

The hardest part was actually finding Sara's room. After that, getting in was remarkably easy due to a sudden emergency down the hall.

Once inside, Catherine barely hesitated before bolting to Sara's side as fast as her limited vision and sore muscles would allow. She could just about make out the bandages wrapped around the girl's hands, wrists and forehead.

"Oh baby." She whispered, reaching out a shaky hand to stroke the soft curls that spilled out across the pillow.

The boys watched her actions with unbridled curiosity as they crept further into the room.

"You never told us what happened between you two." Nick pointed out with a distinct lack of subtlety.

Catherine nodded absently in agreement, making no effort to remedy that situation as she continued scouring Sara's body for further injuries. Apart from the breathing tube taped across her face, she looked remarkably unharmed.

"Come on Cath." Greg pushed. "You said that something changed recently. What was it?"

Ignoring him, she perched on the edge of the bed and shuffled backwards, nestling herself against the headboard and gently pressing Sara's body closer to her.  
Once she was comfortable and had established enough physical contact with her new girlfriend to be content, she cleared her throat and lifted her gaze to meet the expectant ones staring back at her.

"When you asked the other day whether there was anything between Sara and me, I wasn't lying. But that doesn't mean I didn't want there to be anything."

Taking the hint that this could be a long story, the men took up residence around the room. Warrick hopped up to the foot of the bed, letting one hand rest carefully on Sara's leg. Greg claimed the seat beside the bed, taking Sara's bandaged hand between both his own. Nick, Sofia and Grissom were left to stand and situated themselves at various locations around the bed.

Happy that everyone was comfortable, Catherine took a deep breath and began to speak again.


	31. I got blood rush through my veins

**Hope you're all still enjoying it. I know the last couple of chapters have been a little slow, but it'll pick up pace soon x**

**x x x x**

"I don't know when it started; I guess it just snuck up on me." She swallowed, tucking her hair behind her ear. She was used to being centre of attention, but this was unchartered territory even for her. Frankly, she was glad that she could barely see right now; for it would be even harder to talk about her feelings for Sara if she could see their expressions.

"How long have you and Sara actually been … an item?" Grissom pressed awkwardly.

"We're not really." She answered unhelpfully with a weak shrug. "We left work yesterday, went back to her flat…" she paused, shaking her head slowly. It seemed like so long ago now, so much had happened in the interim. "We talked. Nothing happened."

"Cath, you were found in her bed … in your underwear." Nick pointed out sceptically, raising his eyebrows.

"I know." She blushed. "But nothing happened. We … I … I fell asleep. I don't know what happened after that."

Glancing down, she smiled sadly at Sara. The brunette hadn't moved an inch, her head remained tipped against Catherine's hip.

"Hey!" A sharp voice barked from the door. "You people can't be in here!"

The nurse placed her hands on her hips, staring down the mass of people from behind her thin-rimmed glasses.

Sofia took the bait, striding towards her in slow, measured steps.

"Actually, we can." She countered coolly, producing her badge suavely from her belt.

The nurse narrowed her eyes at it suspiciously before seemingly discounting its importance altogether and turning back to the rest of the room.

"Miss Sidle is in a serious condition, she can't have visitors right now." The short woman insisted snippily.

"Well, we're not leaving." The detective continued calmly. "So you can leave us alone, or I can call my supervisor and get them to verify our right to be here in person."

For a moment neither woman moved. Eventually the nurse began to twitch and visibly straightened up.

"I'm going to consult _my_ supervisor." She snapped at last, stalking back out of the room.

With a proud smile, Sofia made her way back to the bed.

"Nicely played detective." Catherine noted drolly. Sofia offered a small nod, resuming her position of leaning over the back of the bed frame.

For the first time, Nick turned his attention to the police officer.

"Did you know about all of this as well?" It hadn't really occurred to him to ask until now, but she seemed oddly familiar with this situation. Too familiar.

She locked eyes with Catherine across the bed, pursing her lips in careful thought.

"I knew." She nodded after a moment. "I tried to get Sara to leave Kirsty; I tried to talk to Kirsty, but nothing worked."

"I could have gotten her to leave." Nick sulked moodily.

"Yeah, right." Warrick scoffed, earning him a mildly offended scowl from the Texan. "When has Sara ever done what's she's told?"

The comment gained a snort of agreement that reverberated around the room.

"She's not the easiest person in the world to convince." Sofia conceded, casting an affectionate smile over the sleeping brunette.

The boys, too engrossed in their own thoughts about their injured colleague, missed the look which passed between Catherine and Sofia. It was no secret that the females hadn't gotten along in the past, but they had one important thing in common; and that thing was currently dozing peacefully between them.

It was clear from Sofia's expression that she didn't believe Cath and Sara hadn't slept together, but that was not an argument the older woman was prepared to have right now. Besides, their sex life was no-one's business except theirs.

"So what's going to happen next?" Grissom breathed, stuffing his hands into his pockets and hunching his shoulders. She looked up, confusion written across her face. "With you and Sara." He elaborated, gesticulating nervously between the two of them. "As a couple." He didn't like this and he fully intended on making that point to Catherine once he could get her alone.

Oblivious to his discomfort, she took a deep breath and instinctively pressed Sara closer to her; an action that went unnoticed by nobody.

"I don't know." She answered honestly. "Like I said, everything happened so fast, we haven't really had a chance to talk about it. I know what I want to happen, but …" she glanced down at Sara's face, willing the hazel eyes to blink up at her.

The men wanted to question the statement, but none dared to breech the awkward silence that quickly settled over the room at her half-answer. It almost sounded like she was implying that Sara might not want the same things.

Instead of voicing the question burning on his tongue, Nick cleared his throat.

"I'm going to go call the lab and update everyone." He gestured weakly towards the bed. "They'll be waiting for news."

"I'll come with you." Sofia added, ducking her head as she slipped through the door after the CSI.

Truth be told she had no one to call, but she couldn't stand watching Catherine and Sara together any longer.

X x x

"Okay, thanks Nick." Doc sighed, hanging up the phone.

"Well?" David hovered over his shoulder, hopping impatiently from one foot to the other.

"Catherine's fine, she's discharged herself. Sara's still unconscious." Albert explained, gathering up his crutches and clicking his way across the morgue.

"Do we know what Catherine was doing there?" Dave asked, halting his boss' path towards the doors.

"Nick wouldn't say." He frowned. "But it sounds like there's more to this whole thing than first blush would suggest."

"You're not suggesting that there was something going on … between them?" The younger man asked. Not that he had a problem with it of course, but it did not sound like the girls he knew.

"It certainly sounds that way." Doc sighed again. "Nick wouldn't go into details but …" he raised his eyebrows suggestively, letting the sentence hang.

"Wow." David hummed. "Sara and Catherine? I didn't see that coming."

"Yeah, well. We still don't know the full story yet so until we do, keep it zipped."

Dave nodded eagerly in agreement. He loved the CSIs and he would certainly not be party to spreading rumours about them. However, something about this did not sit right with him.

"Well, I'd better go tell the rest of the lab rats." The coroner sighed, turning back towards the door. "I bet the grapevine is already in full flow."

X x x

At first she thought that she was imagining the movement against her leg, until she felt a firm tug on her sleeve.

Glancing down, she was surprised to see confused eyes blinking up at her.

"Oh, hi! Hey." She greeted in surprise. "You're awake!"

With the breathing tube still in her throat, Sara was unable to respond but her expressive eyes said enough.

"You're alright baby." Catherine assured her, understanding the silent question. "I'll be right back; I'm going to get a nurse." She hopped off the bed, leaving Sara to reach out pitifully after her. She attempted to sit up but the effort was too much for her and she had to settle for staring helplessly at the door until Catherine returned.

The boys had left to get showers and sleep, but Cath had opted to stick around for a while – after much argument of course. Grissom, in particular, had not wanted to leave her alone here; but she wasn't going anywhere until she knew for herself that Sara was alright.

After what felt like an age, she returned with a pair of nurses in tow who began instantly checking Sara's vitals before beginning to remove the breathing apparatus.

From her position hovering behind them, Catherine could see Sara's fingers drumming impatiently on the mattress and smiled affectionately at the action. She couldn't help wondering absently whether this was the first time she had endured this procedure.

Finally, with a spluttering cough, Sara could breathe again.

"Hey." The strawberry-blonde smiled brightly, moving back to the bed despite obvious protestations from the medical staff. She dragged her fingers through the dark waves spilling out from the stark white bandage wrapped around Sara's head, scanning her bemused expression.

"What happened?" Sara managed to say at last, blinking against the fog clouding her vision.

"Don't worry about that now Miss Sidle." One nurse remarked. "No sense stressing yourself out over nothing."

Catherine rolled her eyes and caught sight of Sara doing the same thing. Clearly these people knew nothing of the stubborn nature their patient possessed. She smiled down at her companion and nodded at her, encouraging her to wait until the medics had finished what they were doing.

"Cat, what happened?" Sara repeated as soon as they were alone again.

"There was a fire in your building." She explained softly, perching on the edge of the bed again and splaying one hand across the pillow.

Sara swallowed hard despite the pain it caused, reaching up towards Catherine's face; however, when she caught sight of the bandage around her own hand she paused, staring at it with a frown.

Catherine carefully took her hand and brought it to her lips, pressing a gentle kiss to the exposed knuckles.

"You're okay." She assured the woman. "Just minor burns, from the heat through the floorboards."

"Are you?" Sara asked, tilting her head to get a better look at her.

"I'm fine baby." Cat whispered. "I promise."

Sara nodded slowly, looking around the room again.

"The boys know?" She asked at last, although it wasn't so much a question as a statement. If she and Cath were both here, the boys wouldn't be far away.

"Yeah." Cath's tongue darted out unconsciously to wet her lips. "But it's okay." She added quickly. "They're alright with it; they're just upset that they didn't know about Kirsty before."

"They know about that too?" Sara squeaked, attempting to sink further into the flat pillows. "How?"

Catherine pursed her lips, considering whether or not to tell Sara everything. However, one look into those intense dark eyes and she just couldn't lie to her.

"Sara, babe … the fire wasn't an accident." She began carefully. "Jim thinks that Kirsty had something to do with it."

"Kirsty? She wouldn't …" Sara shook her head, her gaze wandering across the room to stare in concentration at a benign spot on the sterile white walls. "She wouldn't go that far, would she?"

"I don't know baby." Cath shrugged weakly, leaning down to peck her lips. "I don't know what happened. I'm just glad you're alright."

The kisses were chaste and sweet, but the feeling of hot breath on her lips again was enough to assuage Catherine's fears about Sara. She was awake, she was okay.

She had survived, again.


	32. You wonder what it's like to be damned

**Not too many chapters to go :) Already planning my next story! **

**Thanks for the reviews so far guys!**

**x x x x**

Greg was the first to read the message and he was already halfway out of his apartment, half-dressed, when he answered Nick's call.

"Sofia text you?" The Texan inquired, forgoing all preamble. It was clear from his muffled voice that he was calling from his car phone so this was likely to be a short call.

Sofia's message, evidently sent to everyone, was equally short and concise.

'Sara's awake. No sign of K yet'

"Yeah, I'm just on my way." Greg agreed, clambering into his own car. "Is Catherine still there?"

"I imagine so." Nick shrugged, even though his mate couldn't see him. "Warrick was already on his way back to the hospital so he'll probably beat us there."

"I'll call Doc Robbins." Greg added quickly. "He wanted me to keep him updated."

"Yeah, good idea." Nick agreed. "I'll give you a call when I get there."

Hanging up, the older CSI knocked the car up a gear and turned into the fast lane.

Nick's priority, of course, was seeing for himself that Sara was alright. However, once he was satisfied that she was still in one piece, he had a few questions for his old friend.

X x x

"I know that she's got a temper, but I can't imagine her doing something like this." Sara frowned.

She was still weak and the prospect of doing a formal interview was more than she could bear right now, but she had agreed to talk to one person in particular.

"Well, either way I'd like to bring her in for questioning." Jim continued.

He didn't want to cause Sara further upset by losing his cool in front of her, so he had opted to steer clear of the abuse issue for now and focus on the fire.

He would grill her on details of the relationship later, when she was feeling stronger.

"If she's not at her flat I don't know what to tell you." Sara shrugged half-heartedly. "She didn't really go _out_ anywhere."

"Okay. Well, I'm going to have an officer stationed outside your room – and your house," he nodded pointedly at Catherine. "Until further notice. Just in case."

"I don't think she'd come after us now."

"I don't know." Catherine countered, pursing her lips. "She trashed your apartment because you walked out of an argument. Imagine how unhinged she might have become if she'd seen me at your flat. It's entirely possible that she did start that fire."

"I suppose." Sara mumbled sadly, her mind naturally wandering back to her beloved guitar.

Not that it really mattered now, she pondered idly. It would have probably been destroyed in the fire anyway.

Though he had suddenly found himself somewhat out of the loop here, Jim noted the atmosphere that had fallen and decided to call an end to his questioning. He stood up and stretched his legs stiffly.

"Well, if you think of anything, you let me know." He stroked her cheek tenderly with the back of his hand, raising a meaningful eyebrow at her. "And hey, next time someone hurts you like this, you come to me first."

"There won't be a next time." Catherine assured him bluntly.

He glanced up, catching her eye, and nodded slowly in understanding. No words had been spoken between them yet about her relationship with Sara, but the look that passed between them said enough.

The detective started to leave, but only got as far as the foot of the bed when Sara's puzzled voice spoke up again.

"Gipsy." She stated with a soft scowl.

He turned, sending her a bemused look; and the expression Catherine was wearing suggested she was no more the wiser than him.

"I'm sorry?"

"It's a nightclub." Sara cleared her throat, shuffling uncomfortably under the covers. "It's where Kirsty and I met outside work for the first time. It's a long-shot, but …"

"I'll check it out." Jim nodded, patting her leg. "Get some rest."

Once outside the room, he reached for his cell phone to make a call; but paused as he caught sight of the women again through the small window in the door.

In the time it had taken him to vacate the room, Catherine had already made herself comfortable on the edge of the bed with one hand resting on Sara's side. The brunette was toying idly with the hem of Cath's shirt as they talked. They looked … comfortable. Simply content in each other's company.

At least he was safe in the knowledge that Catherine would never hurt Sara like Kirsty had.  
But that thought didn't make him feel any better about what had happened. Kirsty _had_ hurt Sara, and possibly nearly killed them both.

With that thought in mind, he turned away from the door and lifted his phone again, only to nearly walk into Warrick.

"Hey," the CSI greeted, narrowly dodging around the smaller man. "She alright?"

Brass stepped aside with a tight smile.

"See for yourself."

Warrick leant around him to peer through the glass. He emitted a soft chuckle at the sight before him, shaking his head at the girls. Even from here, he could see that Sara was smiling brightly up at Catherine.

"Damn." He sighed, turning back to the detective. "You believe this?"

"I know." Jim hummed. "You know, I knew something was going on with Sara lately but I just couldn't put my finger on what it was."

"Yeah, well Cath knew." Warrick noted. "I can't believe she didn't tell us though. I mean, what did she think we were going to do?"

"I don't know." Brass shrugged, peering inside again. "But I know one thing, if Catherine had've told me then Kirsty wouldn't be out there now."

"Damn straight." Warrick growled, his fists clenching at his sides at the mere mention of that name.

Thankfully, before he could take his anger out on a nearby wall, their conversation was stunted by the well-timed arrival of Nick and Greg.

"Hey, how is she?" Nick asked breathlessly, jogging towards them.

"I don't know, I just got here." Warrick answered.

"Well, what are you standing out here for?" Greg demanded, pushing past the men and into the room without a moment's hesitation.

X x x

"Hey Greg." Sara smiled across the room at the ungainly entrance and Cath reluctantly climbed off the bed to allow the man to give his friend a tight hug.

"Hey, don't scare me like that." He squeezed her as much as he dared without causing further injury to her.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled against his shoulder, holding onto him a moment longer before releasing him and sinking back into the cushions.

As he moved back, Nick and Warrick wandered into her line of sight.

"Hi." She smiled shyly at them where they stood in the middle of the room. She had already been informed in detail of their reaction to finding out about Kirsty; so, as much as she wanted to see them, she wasn't exactly looking forward to hearing what they had to say on the matter.

Nick was the first to approach her, a tentative expression on his face. For a moment she didn't know whether he was going to hug her or berate her.

Finally he leant down, pressing a firm kiss to her forehead.

"Hey sunshine." He mumbled against her skin. "What you been playing at? Keeping secrets like this from us."

"Nick." Catherine warned in a low voice, but Sara reached out blindly to lay a hand on her arm.

"It's okay." She assured the older woman. "He's right. I should have told you guys."

"Yeah," Nick agreed, straightening up. "So, why didn't you?"

"Hey, leave it out for now." Warrick frowned, moving around the bed to perch beside her. "How you feeling girl?"

"I'm alright." She mumbled, reaching up to touch the bandage peeping out from under his shirt. "I'd ask you the same question, but I've been warned not to mention it."

He chuckled softly, flicking his eyes knowingly to Catherine.

"I'm fine, don't you worry about me." He took hold of her outstretched hand, holding it against his chest. "I think it's our turn to worry about you from now on."

X x x

"Gipsy." Sofia repeated, tearing her eyes briefly from the road to frown at her partner.

"That's what Sara said." Brass scowled down at the notes in his hand again. "Why, you know it?"

She pursed her lips.

"Yeah, I know it." She nodded carefully, swinging the car in the direction of the nightclub.

X x x

"Oh."

It wasn't much of a reaction, but it was enough to bring a smirk to Sofia's lips all the same.

It clearly hadn't even occurred to Jim on the way over that they were heading to a gay bar.

Of course, the police chief realised as they made their way inside, it made sense. Sara and Kirsty _were_ a gay couple, why wouldn't they come here for dates.

As they picked their way through the masses of gyrating women and young men with elaborate hairstyles, attempting not to get knocked about too much, Brass felt a firm smack on his ass.

The culprit, a younger spiky-haired male with a nose-ring, didn't seem at all put off by the irate face that turned to glower at him.

"I do love a man in uniform." The young man flashed a grin, sidling closer to the detective.

Jim caught sight of Sofia smirking at him and straightened up.

"You couldn't handle me." His sharp tongue retorted quickly. Sofia snorted, sending the youth what was meant to be a sympathetic smile as Brass stalked past her towards the bar, where there was a distinctive lack of flirtatious men.

"I see you've made a friend." She said cockily, striding up to join him. He sent her a dark look, saying nothing.

"What can I get you?" A warm voice asked from behind the bar and they looked up into the eyes of a tall woman with shoulder-length auburn hair and a pleasant smile.

"Hi," Sofia greeted, producing a photograph and sliding it across the bar. "We're looking for this woman. Have you seen her in here lately?"

The barmaid narrowed her eyes at it briefly, before looking up and pointing across the nightclub.

In the darkest corner of the room, moping into her fourth or fifth beer, was a familiar face.

Jim stalked towards her without so much as a glance back at the bar. Sofia, maintaining her politeness, offered a grateful smile.

"Thanks." She took her photo back.

"Anytime honey." The barmaid winked, shooting the detective a sexy grin.

Any other day, she might consider it. But today wasn't any other day.

Nodding bashfully in acknowledgement of the comment, she gathered up her folder and hurried to catch her boss up.

X x x

Her vision was starting to blur and her head felt like she was underwater. She should stop drinking, but what was the point? She had nowhere else to go.

She had learnt enough from working the odd arson case to know that the dumbest thing you can do is stick around at the scene. So instead she'd driven far enough away to still be able to see the building without being seen herself, and she'd watched.

She'd watched the smoke rising, thin and pale at first. She'd watched the first few flames licking at the blackness. She'd watched the eery orange glow spreading across the sky, intermittently masked by thick plumes of smoke.

The weight of her actions had yet to hit her, which was probably due to the incomprehensible amount of alcohol she had consumed since arriving at the bar.

Sara had to be dead. Catherine too, probably.

There was no way they could have gotten out in time; the carbon monoxide alone would have killed them.

She lifted the bottle to her mouth, intent on drowning the horrible thoughts that were starting to creep back in, when a shadow fell over her.

She lifted her head, squinting pathetically in an attempt to focus her vision.

"Kirsty Soames." A familiarly gruff voice snapped. "We've been looking for you."

Returning her drink to the table, she stood up on shaky legs.

"Well, now you found me." She slurred, throwing her hands out to the side – an act that caused her to sway violently.

"Kirsty." Now that voice she definitely recognised.

"Ah, detective Curtis." Kirsty sneered. "Have you come to arrest me, detective?"

The words were meant to sound sarcastic, argumentative even, but in her current state they came out more curious than anything.

"Actually, _I've_ come to arrest you." Jim jumped in. "She just wanted to watch."

"Alright." She held her hands up, nearly losing her balance again. "Alright, you got me. I killed them."

Jim and Sofia exchanged a perplexed look. It must be the alcohol talking, they realised.

"I killed them." She repeated, lurching closer to add in a hushed voice. "I killed them … because they deserved it."

"That's almost a confession and it's good enough for me." Brass snapped, producing a pair of handcuffs. "Kirsty Soames, you're under arrest for arson and attempted murder. You do not have to say anything, anything you do say may be taken down in evidence and used against you in a court of law; and God help me you _will_ end up in a court of law!"

Kirsty didn't even appear to have heard him as she was forcibly turned around and wrenched into the Sofia's surprise, she actually smiled. It was the wide, lopsided smile of a drunk, but under the circumstances it was deeply unnerving. As Jim began to march her through the growing crowd of inebriated spectators, Sofia remained where she was, her head cocked to the side in thought with a puzzled frown on her face.


	33. The guilty tears of fallen kings

"Hey Sar." Nick began nervously, flicking his eyes up to hers. "Why _didn't_ you tell us?"

A thick silence had fallen over them, not that they had really noticed, so lost were they in their own thoughts ever since the others had left.

She looked down into her lap, anxiously threading the blanket through her bandaged hands.

"I don't know." She shrugged meekly. "I guess I was ashamed."

"Come on, Sara." He sat forward, stilling her nervous actions by taking her hand between both his own and caressing the raw skin with his fingertips. "You know that we wouldn't judge you."

"It's not that." She shifted awkwardly, her eyes dancing animatedly around the room. "Nick, you know what my father was like." She mumbled. "I remember how people looked at my mother, how they looked at me. I just couldn't deal with those looks again. Like I was pathetic, helpless."

"Oh Sara." Nick shook his head, releasing her hand and leaning up to wrap his strong arms around her slender frame. "You know that you can talk to us about anything, no matter what it is. No one here is going to think you're weak because of what _she_ did to you."

Her only response was to snuffle closer to him, nestling her face against his neck and inhaling his familiar scent. Nick had always been her rock, the one she knew would be on her side no matter what. His touch was strong, but in a comforting way rather than a threatening one. He was a protector.

Sensing her need to fee safe right now, he pressed her tighter against his chest and dropped a kiss onto her head.

"No one's going to hurt you again." He whispered against the shell of her ear. "I won't let them."

X x x

Catherine narrowed her eyes, wishing more than anything that she could hear what they were saying. Sara had coiled herself against Nick and even from here she could see the tears creeping down the Texan's weathered face.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

She turned, throwing a lazy glance at Grissom.

"I didn't think you'd care."

Beside her, he visibly stiffened.

"Of course I care." He countered, affronted at the insinuation.

"Okay then, I didn't tell you because I didn't want to." She clarified calmly, stuffing her hands into her pockets and shuffling her feet, her gaze still firmly fixed on her colleagues in the next room.

He scowled at her blunt answer.

"I should have known. I could have helped."

With a quiet scoff, she finally turned away from the window to face her boss.

"Please, you're so wrapped up in your own world; you never even noticed anything was wrong with her!"

For a moment he looked taken aback by the comment. His tongue darted out to lick his lips as he contemplated his response carefully.

"I did notice, Catherine." He contradicted, failing to disguise his offence. "Of course I noticed. I just didn't know how to bring it up."

"Exactly." She threw her hands out. "Alright, maybe you did know, but you didn't do anything about it did you? You didn't try to talk to her, or offer to help? You just buried yourself away in your lab where things are nice and safe." She shook her head, muttering under her breath in distaste; "Heaven forbid you should actually let someone know how you feel about them."

He blinked at the onslaught of abuse from his old friend, not sure what to say.

"How do _you_ feel about her?" The question, unexpectedly quiet, was posed curiously rather than accusatorially.

She frowned at him in confusion, having expected him to at least react to her harsh words.

"I…" she stuttered, opening and closing her mouth helplessly as her eyes automatically turned to seek out her girlfriend again. Sara was still wrapped in Nick's arms, seemingly asleep. He was rubbing gentle circles on her back as he stared blankly at the wall, lost in his own thoughts.

She swallowed, shaking her head slowly.

"I love her."

X x x

"Hey Sofia!" Warrick jogged down the hall, catching the detective lightly by the arm. "I hear we've got her?"

"Yeah, but we can't do anything until she sobers up. Brass is trying to get an arrest extension as we speak."

"He'll get it." Rick nodded confidently. "The judge wants this wrapped up just as much as we do. Did she say anything when you brought her in?"

"Nothing that made much sense." Sofia scowled. "Except … I don't think she knows that Sara and Catherine are alive. I think that _she_ thinks they died in the fire."

"How come?"

"She said that she killed them. And she's not sorry about it either."

"She actually said that?" His green eyes widened. It was rare for their key suspect to fess up so easily, even when they'd had a shot too many.

"Well, she didn't actually say their names." The woman amended carefully. "But who else could she be talking about?"

"Well, when she sobers up enough you let me know. I want a piece of her." He patted her on the shoulder and drifted into a nearby lab.

She watched him go with a small nod of agreement, her face contorting into a sad frown.

"Yeah. Don't we all."

X x x

"Hey Bobby D." He greeted, leaving Sofia standing alone outside the room. "You not partaking in Hodges' gossip-fest in the break room?"

"No." The firearms tech snapped sullenly, keeping his face firmly pressed against the microscope.

Warrick narrowed his eyes at him, instantly picking up on the waves of anger drifting off the usually laid-back Texan.

"You alright?"

With a heavy sigh, he stood up straight and turned to face the CSI.

"It just seems like they care more about Sara and Catherine's supposed affair than they do about the fact that they nearly died." He scoffed, shaking his head. "It's just … it's just sad."

"Yeah." Warrick frowned, clearing his throat uncomfortably. Bobby came across as so macho sometimes with his gun collection and fascination with cars, it was easy to forget that he was gay himself; he broke all the stereotypes.

Much like Catherine and Sara, the man realised.

"Hey Bobby," Warrick asked, leaning against the bench. "Did you ever notice anything ... you know, about the girls?"

"You mean, did they set my gay-dar off?"

There was a distinct hint of unbridled sarcasm to his voice, but Warrick let it slide and nodded in agreement anyway.

"Look," the tech sighed, folding his arms across his chest. "I never noticed anything between them. But even if they are together, it doesn't mean they don't need your support. If anything, they probably need it now more than ever."

"Hey, I'm cool with it." Warrick held his hands up defensively. "I just can't believe we missed it for so long, you know?"

"Yeah, well." Bobby shrugged, returning to his comparison microscope. "Not everyone in our world walks around in rainbow t-shirts."

X x x

"I can't believe it." Wendy shook her head in baffled loss. "I can't … Catherine and Sara?"

"I told you." Hodges smirked knowingly, taking a long slurp of his coffee.

"But … Catherine and Sara?" Henry continued on from Wendy's train of thought. "I mean that's …"

"Hot." Archie nodded appreciatively, earning him a slap on the arm from Wendy.

"Hey, I'm with you." Mandy sided with Archie, perching on a stool and tearing into a blueberry muffin. "But, what's the deal with this cop woman? Where does she come into it all?"

"I heard that she and Sara were dating and that she's been beating Sara up." Henry whispered conspiratorially.

"Yeah right." Hodges scoffed. "Like anyone could beat Sara up. She's like Lara Croft on speed."

"Okay Mr Know-it-all." Mandy sniped. "If that's not it then how do you explain why Sara's been so quiet lately?"

"Yeah, and all the mysterious bruises." Archie jumped in hurriedly. "I don't believe one person can be so clumsy to injure themselves that much."

Hodges pursed his lips.

"Well, I do hear that Catherine likes it rough." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "The question is, which one was she cheating on if she was seeing them both at the same time?"

"I don't think that's any of your business, Hodges."

The sharp tone of Greg's voice made David jump, along with the rest of the techs, and their cheeks flamed at being caught gossiping.

"How's Sara doing?" Wendy asked hurriedly in an attempt to save face.

However Hodges, having recovered quickly from his shock, cut her off and stalked towards the younger man.

"I disagree." He stated calmly. "I think, since we have to work in this environment, we have a right to know what's going on."

"You want to know what's going on?" Greg repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, we do."

Without a moment's hesitation, Greg's hands shot out and roughly shoved the lab rat backwards. He stumbled, tripping over his own feet and landing on his ass on the hard floor, every ounce of cocky confidence knocked out of him. Greg stood over him, to the shock of the other lab techs, and crouched down.

"What's going on, is that some bitch has been doing that to Sara for the last six months. And we're going to help her deal with it – however we see fit! And whatever is going on with her and Catherine is their business, not yours or mine or anyone elses."

The trace tech blinked up at the man in astonishment, barely able to form words.

"You can't tell me that you don't know what's going on." He managed to say at last, flinching when Greg visibly twitched at the comment.

"Right now, that's the least of my concerns."

Deciding that he'd suitably made his point, he straightened up and locked eyes with Wendy.

"Sara fine. We're going to process the suspect as soon as possible, so get ready to clear the decks. You too, Henry."

They both nodded eagerly, not wanting to further piss off the usually placid young man and risk getting the same treatment as Hodges.

As he departed, Wendy and Archie offered both hands to pull the man back to his feet.

"What the hell was that about?" He asked breathlessly, brushing himself down.

Nobody dared offer an explanation, choosing instead to slope out in silence while exchanging uncomfortable looks. David, left alone in the room, dropped heavily onto a stool and laid claim to Mandy's unfinished muffin as he pondered Greg's reaction.

Perhaps it was something he'd said.

X x x

Vartann rapped lightly on the door before poking his head inside.

"Hey." He greeted, clearing his throat. The patient lifted his head, taking a moment to place the vaguely familiar face.

"Detective Vartann." Hank croaked at last. "I was wondering when you would get round to taking my statement."

"I understand you've had a rough couple of days." Lou nodded, sliding into the seat beside the bed. "But since you mention it, I do have a few questions."

"Ask away." Hank waved a hand.

"How long have you known Sara Sidle?"

A simple question on the surface, but Hank still had to think about it.

"I first met her about four years ago. We dated for a while." He cleared his throat, feeling his cheeks heat up at the memory of their breakup. Sara had looked so devastated, despite her attempts to hide it.

And Catherine. Even then she'd been there, he realised now, in the background. Always quietly looking out for Sara in her own way.

Shaking his head, he sent the police officer a blank look.

"Sorry?"

"I said, have you had cause to see her recently?" Vartann repeated, his forehead creasing in concern at his witness' gormless stare.

"Yeah she, uh, she collapsed at work. I was the at... well, I was one of the attending EMTs."

"I remember." Lou nodded, recalling the incident. It had played out over the radio, but he'd been sketchy on the details.

"I saw her a few times after that, I kept trying to get in touch with her but she wouldn't take my calls." Hank continued.

"Why was that?"

"When we took her to hospital, I noticed she had bruises that weren't caused by the fall. It looked like someone had been hitting her." He clenched his hands into fists on the bed and slowly relaxed them, feeling the muscles spasm beneath the delicate skin. "I just wanted to help her, but she wouldn't talk to me."

"So, you knew about her and Kirsty?" Vartann sat forwards, intrigued.

"Kirsty?" He frowned. "No, I ... I thought she was with Catherine actually. Who's Kirsty?"

Lou opened his mouth to answer, but quickly thought better of it and changed the subject.

"You ran into the fie. Did you notice anything about it? Anything specific?"

Understanding that he wasn't going to get an answer to his question, Hank sank back into his hard pillows and folded his arms.

"It was fucking hot." He answered drolly, eliciting a small smile from the detective.

"Yeah." He snapped his notebook shut and slotted it back into his top pocket, signalling the end of the informal interview.

He hadn't really expected to get much, but it was worth a shot. Without any forensic results yet and unable to question Kirsty, the only thing he could really do was talk to witnesses and tie up loose ends.

"Thanks for your time. And ... I hope you feel better soon."

He stood up, but Hank rose with him, shuffling upright despite his tight chest.

"Hey," he gasped, settling himself against the headboard. "Is Sara…?"

"She's okay." Vartann assured him. "They're going to release her soon."

"I'd like to see her."

Lou pursed his lips, wandering back to the bed.

"I don't think that's a good idea." He said tactfully. "Look, I don't know the full story between you two, but I know that until the fire, you were not their favourite person." He paused, licking his lips as he considered his next words carefully. "You saved her life. We can't thank you enough for that." In an act of goodwill, he held out his hand. Hank stared at it dumbly for a second before shaking it limply. "You're a hero." He continued. "Let's not spoil a good thing, hey?"

X x x

"Hey."

Greg looked up slowly, revealing the red marks around his eyes where he had been crying.

"Hey." He croaked hoarsely.

Warrick came further into the room, placing a hand on his mate's shoulder and squeezing firmly.

"You alright?"

"Yeah."

"You taken all your anger out on Hodges, or you still got some left in you?"

Despite his bad temper, Greg laughed at the nonchalant remark.

"I think I'm good." He laughed weakly, wiping at his eyes. "Sorry."

"Hey man, I get it." Rick breathed, releasing him. "I'm mad too. But you'd better be able to keep your cool if you want to help Sara."

Greg nodded slowly, taking a few deep breaths.

"I'm good." He repeated at last.

"Good. Because you and I are going to Sara's flat."

"What for?" Greg stood up, stretching his numb legs. It wasn't usually in him to be violent, it had knocked him for six. Warrick's face darkened somewhat as he produced a search warrant from his back pocket.

"Evidence." He growled in a low voice. "We're going to find something in that building that proves Kirsty was the abuser in that relationship."

"I don't know. She covered her tracks pretty well." Greg pulled a face, scanning the document carefully. "I don't know what you expect to find."

"Well there has to be something." Rick insisted, snatching it back. "And come hell or high-water, I'm going to find it. Now, are you in or you out?"

For the first time in hours, a small smile twitched at the young man's lips.

"I'm in."


	34. It's all coming down on me and you

**I fully intend to have this story wrapped up by the end of the week :) I have one more little twist for before then, hope you're still enjoying it!**

**x x x x**

"You can't keep me here." Kirsty drawled, propping her head up on the table. Her eyes were still glazed and unfocused, her face heavy with exhaustion. However, the undersheriff had deemed her sober enough to be questioned, and that was good enough for Jim.

"Actually, we can." Sofia countered, producing a warrant and sliding it across the table. "We could always get the sheriff in here to explain it to you if you like."

Kirsty glowered up at her with undisguised hatred. As a cop, being questioned by her own colleagues was about as humiliating as it got. The last thing she would want was the big boss getting in on it as well.

"You can't charge me with anything. You don't know who started that fire." She spat.

"We're _not_ charging you with anything." Sofia slid into a seat opposite her. "Yet."

Beside her, she sensed Jim sit down too and a piece of paper was flung across the table at their surly suspect.

"You recognise that?" He asked.

Kirsty rolled her eyes, scraping the image up and looking at it.

"It looks like a CCTV still." She said, tossing it back down. "What of it?"

"That's you." Brass tapped it forcefully. "Outside CSI, the night someone set off a smoke bomb."

She picked it up again, pretending to study it more closely.

"So it is. I do work for the police you know, _Captain_."

"I checked your duties for that night against the staff roster." Sofia chimed in. "You had no reason to be anywhere near CSI that night."

"I went to see Sara." Kirsty said, straightening up a little. "She'd been upset earlier that day."

"I wonder why." Sofia cocked her head to the side sarcastically.

"I didn't hurt her." Kirsty snapped, wincing as a shot of pain ripped through her head. "And I didn't kill her." She paused, dropping her gaze onto the table. "I loved Sara. But she had a lot of problems. It wouldn't surprise me if she started that fire herself."

Sofia and Jim exchanged a sceptical look.

"I doubt it." Brass said calmly. "But hey, you know what? Why don't we call her and ask her, hmm?"

Kirsty's eyes widened as he pulled out his cell phone and pretended to dial.

"What's wrong?" Sofia asked callously, narrowing her eyes at the dark-skinned woman. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Oh yeah." Jim joined in. "Did we forget to mention that? Sara's still alive."

"What?" She squeaked, her green eyes bulging out impossibly, a look resembling that of a startled frog.

"Oh yeah. Catherine too." The captain continued, pushing himself away from the table and standing up. "So I tell you what, why don't you rethink your story. Because we're going to get to the truth one way or another."

As he strode to the door, Sofia matched his actions and rose from her seat, her eyes remaining locked onto Kirsty's stunned face.

"Hey! You can't just keep me here indefinitely." The suspect barked urgently when she realised that they were planning on leaving her alone in the small room.

"Oh yeah? Why don't you re-read that arrest warrant?" Brass pointed at the piece of paper still sitting in front of her. "Because according to that, your ass is mine for the next twelve hours."

She watched them go with the same shell-shocked expression, her hands balling into fists on the table.

Whether it was anger at being left to stew in here or because of the news she had just received, they didn't know; but in a fit of rage she grabbed the arrest warrant and ripped it down the middle, scrunching each half up in her hands before hurling them at the closed door.

X x x

Catherine surveyed the room, dragging her hand across the table top and rubbing her fingertips together out of habit. She was so used to processing hotel rooms; it had become second nature to note the cleanliness of them.

This one, at least, was to a high standard. It should be; it was one of Sam's. She had called in a family favour and, under the circumstances, he hadn't had the heart to say no.

"You don't have to stay here you know." She said again, turning towards Sara. The brunette was already unpacking some of her essentials.

"Well, I can't go back to my flat yet." She pointed out. "And as appealing as Greg's couch is…"

"You could stay with me." Cath got straight to the point, walking over and dropping onto the bed so that Sara couldn't avoid looking at her any longer.

The girl paused, flicking her eyes up.

"We already talked about that." She stated calmly, quickly resuming her task.

"You never gave me a proper reason." The older woman insisted, reaching out to trail a hand up Sara's arm. There were obvious signs of the injuries she had sustained, but simply being dressed and moving around again made her look a lot healthier than she had done in the hospital.

As for Cath's vision, she still suffered the occasional bout of blurriness; although she continued to plead the fifth whenever she asked about it.

"I just don't think it's a good idea right now." Sara cleared her throat. "With Kirsty and the boys, and everything…"

"I don't care what the boys think." Catherine shrugged. "What difference does it make anyway, they already know about us."

"I know." Sara agreed awkwardly, disappearing briefly into the bathroom with a toiletry bag.

When she returned a moment later, Catherine was staring at her carefully.

"We still haven't talked about it." She commented quietly. "You and me."

Sara barely even seemed to hear her; she wandered back to her suitcase and dropped heavily onto the bed beside her girlfriend.

"I just feel like …" she began, dragging a hand through her hair and wincing as she caught the burns on her hands.

"What?" Cath nudged her gently.

"I feel like I'm under scrutiny." She admitted.

Catherine pursed her lips, nodding slowly in understanding.

"You think that our relationship could be detrimental to your case against Kirsty?" She paraphrased.

Sara released a shaky breath, nodding slowly.

"Yeah. I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't apologise." Cath shook her head, interlocking their hands on the mattress. "None of this is your fault."

Sara stared at their conjoined hands in silence for a long moment before pulling away and pushing herself off the bed. Cath watched with sad confusion as the dark-haired woman wandered towards the large window and stared blankly across the sprawling town.

"Well, at this rate it might not make a difference anyway." She breathed at last.

Catherine frowned in bemusement, slowly rising herself and following her across the room.

"What do you mean?" She asked, coming to a stop a few feet away so as not to crowd her already-miserable colleague.

"I mean, it might be in my best interest to just accept the charges."

For a moment the words hung between them, a heavy, disorientating fog; much like Sara's breath misting on the window pane, distorting the view of downtown Las Vegas.

"You're not serious." Cath narrowed her eyes at last, her voice taking on a quiver despite her attempts to remain calm. "You _can't_ be serious."

"I am." Sara stated simply, turning around. Her lips were pressed together tightly, as if she was trying desperately to keep something from spilling out.

"Sara … if you do that it will ruin your career."

"My career?" She repeated, finally meeting Catherine's gaze. "At the lab? Where my whole life is out on display?" She scoffed, casting her sad eyes to the side. "Right now, I couldn't care less about my career. I'm not sure I can stay here any longer like this."

Catherine felt her whole body going numb at the disillusionment in her friend's voice. She wanted to say something, to tell her that she couldn't go. She wanted to tell her what she'd told Grissom … that she loved her.

The words simply wouldn't come, but she hoped that she wouldn't need them.

Taking a step closer, she gripped Sara by the arms – forcing the other woman to look at her, and pressed a firm, pleading kiss to her trembling lips.

The taste of salt gave away Sara's silent tears, but it only heightened Catherine's need to hold her. She closed the gap between them, pressing her whole body against Sara's as she slid her tongue between the younger CSI's lips.

It was desperate and beseeching and everything that Catherine hated to be, but somehow it still didn't feel like it was enough.

X x x

"Damn!" Warrick sighed, surveying the mess formally known as Sara's flat. As with the rest of the building, everything in sight was coated in a fine grey dust. Unburned carbon.

"I hope Sara has some powerful cleaning products." Greg added, dragging his fingertips across the worktop.

"Yeah, well right now I'm more concerned with what Kirsty might have left behind." Warrick hummed, pacing in a small circle in the middle of the room. His shoulder was still bothering him, but if he kept moving then he found that it was less noticable.

The fire hadn't quite reached this end of the corridor, meaning many of Sara's belongings would be salvageable. However, any fingerprints or DNA was buried beneath the layer of smoke that had settled on everything.

"Hey Warrick." Greg called idly, as he began picking up and examining random objects in turn. "Do you think Cath and Sara suit each other?"

"What?" The older of the two cocked his head to the side. "You mean, as a couple?"

"Yeah." Greg shrugged, finally lifting his gaze. Warrick pursed his lips, pondering the question. They had been so wrapped up in the events of the last couple of days; he hadn't really given it that much thought.

"I guess." He decided at last. "Hell, they've always had a spark between them. I never would have envisioned it leading to this, but …"

A noise by the door cut him off before he could continue the thought and they turned to see Nick picking his way carefully across the room.

"Wow, it's like the inside of a chimney in here."

"Hey." Warrick nodded at him. "I thought you were staying with Sara."

"They released her." He explained, picking up a smoke-damaged cushion before tossing it back onto the couch again and dusting his hands off. "Cath's taken her to a hotel. I was ... surplus to requirements." He sent the men a half-smile, knowing that they would catch his drift.

"Was she alright?" Greg asked, moving around the kitchen bench to join them in the living area.

"Yeah, she was … she was good." He nodded after a moment's consideration. "Quiet, but she seemed pretty calm."

"I bet she's freaking out inside." Warrick shook his head sadly, gesturing to the tiny flat. "This is too much for anyone to bear."

Nick nodded in agreement, his brown eyes scanning the area. He had been here a hundred times before, yet it was oddly unfamiliar now.

"You know," he cleared his throat, wandering over to the bookcase and picking up a CD case from the top shelf. "Sara told me that Kirsty trashed her flat recently. Broke plates, ornaments, picture frames." He sniffed. "She smashed up her guitar."

"Oh, man." Warrick groaned, recoiling. He, more than anyone, knew how much that instrument meant to Sara. She had told him once how it had belonged to her grandfather – to the best of his knowledge it was the only time she'd ever come close to discussing her family with any of the team.

"So, she talked to you about it?" Greg asked, surprised. He didn't want to admit that he felt jealous, after all he had known about this long before the other guys. However, it still felt somewhat painful that his best friend had chosen to confide in Nick over him. He had been trying for weeks, with little success, to get Sara to tell him more about Kirsty's behaviour.

"I asked." Nick clarified, dusting off a journal that he'd found on the desk. "I wanted to know why she didn't tell us what was going on with Kirsty."

"You asked her?"

"Relax will you, I didn't upset her." The Texan held up his hands defensively, reassuring the youngest team member. "We just talked. She explained it all to me. She told me what Kirsty's done to her and why she couldn't tell us."

"And?" Warrick pressed curiously. "What did she say?"

Nick lifted his head and locked eyes with Greg. The ex-lab rat seemed to be silently warning him not to say too much.

"She had a good reason." He nodded at last, extracting his torch from his pocket and beginning to search the flat in more detail.

"There's no reason she couldn't have told us." Warrick countered, sinking onto the bed with a disgruntled frown. "We could have stopped this."

"She had her reasons Rick, let's just leave it at that."

Warrick tipped his head to the side, observing Nick carefully.

"You've changed your tune. A few hours ago you were swearing blood murder about all this; about how she should have told us everything."

"Yeah, well thing's changed." Nick noted calmly.

Warrick opened his mouth to contest the weak argument, but Greg jumped in quickly before he could.

"Hey guys." He called, dusting off the item he had just extracted from the bedside table and holding it up with a raised eyebrow. "Catherine's cell phone.

Reluctantly - and still peeved at being kept in the dark - Warrick turned away from Nick and held out his hands for the phone.

Across the room, Nick and Greg exchanged a small nod of understanding. Things were still somewhat unsettled between the men, but at least they were on the same page about Sara's right to privacy.

"Oh man." Rick groaned, his chest heaving angrily. Nick moved closer and hovered over his friend's shoulder.

"Catherine did say she'd taken pictures of Sara's bruises." He noted grimly.

"I hope Brass tears her a new one for this." Warrick snarled, his cheeks flaming with rage at the sight of the deep mottled marks all over his friend's skin.

Greg chose to stay away. He didn't need to see the photos.

He'd already seen the real thing.

X x x

Sara paused, throwing a nervous glance at the phone, before continuing her repetitive pacing around the room.

Catherine's parting words had been playing in her head like an old record ever since the blonde had left. An impassioned plea, something rarely heard coming from the blonde's lips.

Her lips.

Sara could still taste that kiss, feel those butterflies dancing in her stomach. If she closed her eyes she could even feel the gentle hands creeping up her back.

It almost made her laugh to think that the last conversation they'd had before the fire was about her not being ready for sex and now it was about all she could think of whenever she was near the fiery supervisor.

Of course, it was neither the time nor the place to be thinking of such things. And hormones aside, she still wasn't ready to take that step yet; not with Catherine or anyone else.

She wouldn't be ready until Kirsty was out of the picture for good and she could begin to repair the cracks that had formed in her carefully constructed walls in recent months.

Catherine's warning about accepting the charges continued to haunt her, but right now her only priority was getting this over with. Nick was right, they'd let things get way too far and now she wanted out.

Ordinarily she would have run. That's what she used to do as a kid. Run away and seal the bad memory up in a box in the back of her consciousness.

But running away wasn't the answer this time – no matter how far she went, Kirsty would still find her. And there was only one other way she could think of to get this woman out of her life.

Catherine would not approve of this, but she didn't see any other way to get rid of these ghosts for good.

With a shaky hand, she snatched the phone up and dialled the well-known number. She drummed her fingers impatiently on the back of the handset while the endless dial tone hummed in her ear, before that familiar voice came on the line.

"Hey, it's Sara." She cleared her throat nervously. "I need to talk to you. Alone."

X x x

"How is she?"

"Stressed." Catherine answered bluntly, striding into the room behind him. "This whole thing with Kirsty is messing with her head."

"I've tried calling Brass but he's not answering. He must still be in interrogation with her." Grissom leant against his filing cabinet, tapping his foot in thought.

"I thought that should have ended by now." Catherine scowled. "They've been ages."

"They're playing with her. Stringing her out." He explained. "Brass wants to make her suffer before he lays any charges on her."

"Do we _have_ anything to charge her with yet?" The woman asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"We have evidence to link her to the smoke bomb." He nodded, narrowing his eyes. "Which you also never told me about."

Catherine emitted a frustrated snort, turning her gaze up to the ceiling.

"Don't do this Gil." She breathed. "Not today."

"I'm trying to help her Catherine, and you. But you're not making it easy for me." The boss reiterated firmly, barely managing to rein his temper in. He knew from experience that losing it with the red-head would never end in his favour, and right now she appeared more on edge than ever.

When she finally turned her steely blue eyes towards him again, he caught the briefest flash of something dark and pained behind them.

"You really want to help, find a way to convince her to stay."

"What do you mean?" He asked, his face contorting into a frown.

She threw her hands out helplessly, sinking into a chair.

"She's talking about accepting the charges from Kirsty." She scoffed. "She wants to admit to being an abuser."

"Why?" That did not sound like Sara at all. Sara's integrity and pride were her most protected assets.

"Because she's worried about a trial. She thinks this is the easiest way to put it all behind her."

Grissom licked his lips, taking a deep breath.

"If she accepts those charges, she'll have a criminal record. She'll lose her job." He stated quietly at last.

"Yeah, well." Cat shrugged, throwing her hands out again. "She doesn't really care about that either anymore. She wants to leave."

He blinked at her in stunned silence, his mouth opening and closing in a vain attempt to form his panicked thoughts into a coherent response.

Before he managed to recover, they were both startled by a knock at the door.

"Hi guys, sorry to interrupt." Sofia wandered in, scanning their faces in turn. Grissom currently resembled a fish on land, while Catherine looked on the verge of tears right now. She considered asking what was going on, since she had clearly missed something, but Grissom spoke up before she had chance.

"Any news from the station?" He straightened up, a mask of indifference hurriedly covering his previous expression.

"Yeah," she breathed, flicking her blonde hair over her shoulder and placing her hands on her hips. "But you're not going to like it."


	35. Hanging off the edge of every word

**The bits in italic are flashbacks; hopefully it'll make sense as you're reading it. **

**x x x x**

"You released her?" Catherine barked, dragging a hand through her long tresses. "How did that happen?"

"We don't have enough physical evidence to charge her with." Sofia shrugged helplessly. "Everything we have against her is circumstantial or hearsay. She's been smart."

"She's been lucky." Cath retorted with a disgruntled snort. "So, what happens now?"

"Well, that's actually what I came to tell you." The detective flexed her hands nervously. If Catherine was angry about Kirsty being released, she was going to flip when she heard the next bit.

Grissom picked up on her reluctance to answer and sat forward, folding his hands on the desk.

"Sofia." He said calmly. "What's going on?"

X x x

Sara took a deep breath, shuffling her feet nervously as she waited. She saw movement flickering behind the peephole for a second before the door was unlocked and swung open, sending a gush of warm air around her trembling legs.

The green eyes that stared back at her were cold and harsh, despite the dark circles surrounding them.

"Sara." Kirsty greeted coolly.

"Hey." She cleared her throat. "I heard that they'd released you." She paused, casting a nervous glance around her. "Can I come in?"

After an agonisingly long moment's hesitation, Kirsty stepped aside and let her slide past. Sara threw a final anxious look outside before the door was practically slammed shut behind her.

"Can I get you anything?" Kirsty asked tersely, startling Sara as she surveyed the small living room. Despite their lengthy relationship, she hadn't spent that much time here. Most of their time had been spent at Sara's flat. In the beginning of their relationship, Sara had even jokingly suggested that Kirsty was hiding another girlfriend in here.

"No, thank you." She cleared her throat, stuffing her hands into her coat pockets.

"Okay." Kirsty perched on the arm of the couch, folding her arms sullenly. "Well, you said on the phone that you wanted to talk. So, talk."

"_You sure you want to do this?" Warrick asked, a concerned frown marring his forehead. _

"_I have to." She swallowed, nodding slowly. "It's the only way to put an end to these charges."_

Sara took a deep breath. She'd scripted and rehearsed everything she wanted to say, but now the words were evading her.

"You've won." She managed to stutter out at last.

Kirsty's face belayed her confusion.

"I'm sorry." She cocked her head to the side. "I've won?"

"Yeah." Sara straightened up, taking a step closer. "I can't do it anymore. So," she paused, inhaling deeply. "I'll accept the charges."

"You what?" Kirsty stood up so suddenly that Sara had to resist the urge to take a step back. She wasn't going to run away this time.

"I'm going to accept the charges. I can't fight anymore." She continued.

Kirsty narrowed her eyes suspiciously, a sceptical look crossing her frosty features.

"Why?"

"_You know that you don't have to do this, right?" Warrick continued, placing a reassuring hand on her arm. "We can find another way."_

_Sara lifted her sad gaze, shaking her head slowly. "There is no other way, Rick."_

"I want this to be over, no matter what it takes."

"What about your career?" Kirsty pointed out. "And Catherine; what does she think of this?"

"She doesn't know." Sara dropped her gaze. That wasn't actually a lie; Cat didn't know she was here. Sara felt bad for not consulting her girlfriend first, but had she known, this would never have worked.

"Really?" Kirsty hummed, wandering over to the window, a pensive look in her eyes. She hadn't put that much stock in Sara's relationship with her supervisor, but she hadn't expected the cracks to start showing just yet either.

"I'm leaving Vegas." Sara continued, clearing her throat.

This new piece of information brought an abrupt stop to Kirsty's absent staring. She turned to Sara with a mix of surprise and fear in her eyes.

"_Hey Sar," Warrick licked his lips carefully in thought. "What you said to Cath about leaving, you weren't serious were you?" _

_She took a deep breath, tipping her head back towards the ceiling. "I don't know."_

"You know," The older woman hummed, pushing herself off the window ledge and wandering back across the small living room. "There is another way to make this all go away."

Sara cocked her head to the side, quirking an eyebrow in silent question.

"You could come back."

"Back … to you?" Sara repeated insolently. "You're kidding, right?"

"I know everything about you, Sara." She stated, coming to a stop a couple of feet away from the brunette. "I know about your twisted family tree, I know about your psychotic mother. I can make your life hell if I want to." She listed carefully. "Or, I can take it all back. I can make the charges go away. And you could keep your career, and your reputation intact."

"Just like that?" Sara asked quietly, trying to blink away the angry tears that had started to form in her eyes. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I want you back." Kirsty gushed, lunching forwards and gripping her arms tightly. "Leave Catherine, come back to me and I can make everything go away. It'll go back to how it was before."

'Like it was before' was hardly a tempting offer, but Sara didn't let that thought seep into her expression. Instead, she nodded carefully.

"Okay." She pursed her lips. "_If_ I were to agree to that, how would you take it back?" She inquired. "You accused me of domestic abuse; do you really think people would believe that you could just let that go?"

"I'd downplay it." She shrugged, running her hands up and down Sara's arms. The actions made the girl's stomach turn, but she clamped down on the urge to bat her away. Right now, she had Kirsty right where she wanted her. "Make it sound like I'd been out for revenge and exaggerated them."

Sara scoffed, shaking her head.

"Come on, Sara." Kirsty begged, tightening her grip. "We can put this all behind us; we can make it work again. Like it was before."

Staring into those mesmerising, persuasive green eyes, it was almost a believable promise.

"Alright." Sara swallowed, reciting her practiced lines in her head one last time. "On one condition."

"Yeah, anything." Kirsty nodded eagerly, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"I want you to admit what you did to me."

"What?" She scrunched her nose up.

"Just to me. Here, now." Sara stepped back slightly, straightening up to her full height and stiffening her shoulders. "I want you to admit that you made up those charges against me."

Kirsty frowned, not understanding the request.

"Why?" She asked suspiciously, the cop in her finally coming out to play.

Luckily, Sara had been expecting that and already had an answer prepared.

"If you want to start again then we have to address the issue head on." Sara stated, sounding much more self-assured than she really was. "I need to hear you admit what you did before I can move past it."

For a heart-wrenching moment she thought it hadn't worked, when Kirsty's features finally relaxed a little.

"Alright." She licked her lips. "I made them up. You weren't the abusive one. I was. I hurt you. I followed you – I wanted to know everything about you, so I traced your history." She dropped her gaze, actually managing to look pained at the words she was saying. "I hit you." She swallowed hard. "I'm sorry."

The apology, like the rest of the tirade, had sounded authentic. But Sara couldn't feel sympathy for her, not now.

Instead, the brunette smiled.

Stepping far out of reach – to Kirsty's utmost bemusement – she began carefully un-doing the buttons on her black shirt. As each inch of milky white skin came into view, Kirsty's eyes tracked her movements with growing concern. Finally, letting the garment fall completely open, Sara revealed the true reason for her request, in the form of a small recorder taped to her chest.

"Thank you." She said, the first genuine words she had uttered since entering the house.

Before Kirsty could begin to work out what was going on, her front door was kicked open and Jim Brass stalked in, followed closely by Warrick and a troupe of uniformed officers. Colleagues, to add insult to injury.

Kirsty's face had paled and her red-rimmed eyes were impossibly wide as it dawned on her that she'd been played.

"You bitch!" She launched herself forward, her fist swinging out and narrowly missing Sara's face before two officers rugby-tackled her to the floor.

"Kirsty Soames." Brass snarled, standing over her writhing body. "You're under arrest for domestic violence, assault, arson and for being a lying manipulative piece of crap." He hissed, nodding at the officer currently pinning her down. "Get her out of here."

During the commotion, Warrick had appeared at Sara's side and wrapped a strong arm around her waist, tugging her firmly against his chest.

"You did good, girl." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. She, currently unable to form words, just nodded, tears stinging at her eyes as she watched Kirsty being hauled out.

"Sara!" The offender wailed, desperately attempting to fight her way out of the officers' grip. "You can't do this to me!"

"It's over Kirsty." Sara cleared her throat, stepping out of Warrick's embrace and straightening up. "You see, you might know a lot about me. You certainly did your research." She conceded with a dry laugh. "But I know you, too. I know how you think."

"You used me." Kirsty almost whispered, hurt emanating from her pitiful expression.

"You're done, Kirsty." Sara repeated, her gaze unwavering.

She felt a firm hand on her arm and turned towards the source. Jim was staring after their suspect, but when he spoke he was addressing Sara.

"Go home, get some rest." He stated calmly. "Like you said, it's over."

"_Alright, you're good to go." Warrick nodded, stepping back to admire his work. Sara buttoned up her shirt, ensuring the recorder was suitably covered, and nodded appreciatively at him. _

_Just on time, Brass wandered in and cast a glance over her body. You'd never even know she was wearing a wire. _

"_You ready?"_

"_Yeah," she breathed. "Let's get this over with."_

"_We'll be right outside." Warrick assured her with a gentle squeeze of her shoulder.  
_

"_Remember our deal." Brass interjected sternly. "If she raises a hand to you, you get out of there." _

_Sara turned to him, a steely look in her hazel eyes. _

"_I'm not scared of her anymore."_

X x x

"Jim!"

He had been expecting this, but his heart still sank at the distinctive sound of heels clicking speedily down the hall towards him. Receiving a sympathetic shrug from Nick, who promptly disappeared in the other direction, Brass turned around to face the oncoming wrath of Catherine Willows.

"Where is she?" The blonde growled, finally reaching him.

Sofia, trailing behind the irate CSI, threw her hands out to the side helplessly.

"I'm sorry." She offered meekly. "I had to tell them."

Brass sent her an understanding look, before turning his attention back to Catherine; who was tapping her foot impatiently.

"Sara's fine, Warrick's taken her back to the hotel." He started, hoping it might appease her slightly.

It didn't.

"What the hell were you thinking, sending her in there?" She barked.

"It was her idea Catherine." Sofia interjected. "She wanted to do it."

"She's all over the place right now! She doesn't _know_ what she wants!"

"She did good Cath." Brass moved to place his hands on the woman's shoulders, but thought better of it when she sent him a dark glare.

"Don't ever let her do something like this again without telling me first." She warned, brandishing a finger at him.

Since it was clear that she wasn't in a reasoning kind of mood, the police captain opted not to say anything. Instead, he moved aside and let her brush past him into the observation room.

"She wants to sit in on the interview." Sofia pointed out, somewhat needlessly.

X x x

She had been livid when they'd eventually prised it from Sofia what was going on, especially when she'd discovered that Sara had gone to Warrick for help and not her. But by the time she had found out about this operation, it had been too late to stop it.

"You can go in." Brass stated calmly, appearing by her side. "But be careful. We're only going to get this one chance with her. Don't overstep the mark, Catherine."

Even as he was talking he could see the words going in one ear and out of the other. Her piercing blue eyes were fixed through the glass, staring out her opponent. In the unflattering orange jumpsuit, with her wild hair tied back, she looked much less threatening than ever before.

Sofia had already gone in and was busy reciting Miranda, not that Kirsty really needed it reading to her.

With a deep intake of breath, Catherine tore her gaze from the window and walked with determined, measured steps to the door.

X x x

Sofia had already made herself comfortable at the table when Catherine finally followed her in. She wasn't surprised to see the blonde CSI had won out against Brass, it was inevitable really.

Kirsty, however, was visibly shocked to see her in the room.

"Catherine." She blinked, quickly hiding her surprise behind a smirk. "I see you made it out alive."

"Yeah." She cleared her throat sliding into a seat beside Sofia. "No thanks to you."

Kirsty pursed her lips, attempting to disguise the cocky smile spreading on her lips.

Joining Sofia, Catherine held the suspect's gaze unwaveringly as she placed a recorder on the table and hit play.

"_You weren't the abusive one. I was. I hurt you. I followed you – I wanted to know everything about you, so I traced your history… I hit you."_

Kirsty's face fell as her own voice crackled and echoed around the small room.

"I told you the truth would out." Catherine said coolly. "Did you really think anyone would believe that Sara was an abuser?"

"Well, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." The cop smarmed, shuffling in her seat.

On the other side of the table, both women stiffened. Sofia heard Catherine gulp, her long nails digging into the table top.

"Don't you dare." Cath warned in a low voice. "Don't even try to bring her past into this."

Kirsty smirked, glad to have elicited a reaction. With a dismissive wave, she quickly disregarded the tape recording.

"That tape doesn't prove anything. I was trying to get Sara back; I'd have said anything she wanted me to." She paused, sending a sly look at Sofia. "She's manipulative like that."

"Well that's funny because Catherine and I have both known Sara for a long time and she hasn't manipulated either of us." The detective pointed out. Unlike the edgy criminalist beside her, she was much better at hiding the disgust bubbling in her stomach right now. Under the guise of being bored by the whole thing, she was pretending to examine her fingernails. It was a common police technique, one which Kirsty was no doubt aware of, but it seemed to be having the desired effect – Kirsty was scowling at her in annoyance over the lack of a reaction. "In fact, the only person manipulating evidence here is you."

"Maybe." Kirsty conceaded, straightening up and placing her handcuffed hands onto the table. The chains rattled, scraping against the scarred wood as she stretched towards them, flexing each finger in turn until each knuckle cracked. "Maybe not. But can you prove it?"

X x x

Greg's stomach knotted instinctively at the harsh voice filtering into the observation room as he crept inside.

Jim was staring intently through the large window, his brow furrowed in anger. Whatever was being said, it clearly wasn't going in their favour.

"Is it really a good idea to have those three in a room together?" The younger man cleared his throat, sidling up beside the cop.

"What do you mean?" Jim asked, his blue eyes never moving from their target.

"Well, you've got two of Sara's ex-girlfriend's and her current girlfriend, together. In one room."

Brass blinked at him. In truth, it was about the only time Greg had ever seen the aging detective look genuinely startled.

"What?" He repeated. "Sara and Sofia …"

"Oh yeah." Greg nodded. "It was a long time ago, but still."

"Huh." Jim nodded, turning back to the window. "No kidding." He had known there was some history between the women, but he didn't know exactly what it was. Although that could explain the animosity between them all these years.

Shaking his head, he brushed the thought aside and dropped his shoulders heavily.

"She still denies abusing Sara, and she hasn't given up anything about the fire." He sighed. "Without a confession, or more evidence, the DA won't charge her with either."

"Well, maybe I can help with that." Greg produced a folder, offering it to the captain with a tight smile. "I was going over the case file – I think I found a loophole that might solve all our problems. And Kirsty's already provided all the evidence we need."


	36. Tyre tracks and broken hearts

**I would like to apologise in advance for this chapter; I'm not feeling well so I know this is not my best work. Still, I hope you like it  
**

**x x x x**

He managed to catch the tail end of Kirsty's statement as he nudged the door open and crept inside.

"…deserved everything she got for what she did to me." The woman spat callously.

"What _she_ did to you?" Catherine repeated, her jaw set and her hands clenched on the table in a failed attempt to hold her cool. "What she did was protect your dark little secret for months, because she was scared of what you might do if she told anyone – with good reason, clearly."

Kirsty barely heard the blonde's tirade, too occupied was she in eyeing up Greg with curiosity. She shifted her gaze lazily back to the women, a cocky smirk twitching on her lips.

"You can twist your girlfriend's words all you want, Ms Willows, but only Sara and I actually know what happened between us." She sat forward, her green eyes dancing with delight as she held all the cards in her handcuffed hands. "So, I guess what it comes down to is who the jury will believe." She smarmed. "And we all know what sort of temper Sara has … how many suspects has she lost it with over the years?"

"She's not the only one with a temper." Sofia jumped in pointedly.

Sensing an argument brewing, Greg quickly cleared his throat to make his presence known to his colleagues.

"You're right." He addressed Kirsty, striding up to the table. "We don't know exactly what went on between you and Sara. And we can't prove who the abuser was and who the victim was." He continued calmly, subtly placing his folder on the table in front of Cath and Sara so they could see what he was doing. "But that doesn't matter, because no jury is going to hear that case anyway."

Sharing a sideways glance with Catherine, Sofia turned the file around so Kirsty could read it for herself.

As she scanned the document, her brow knitted in bemusement, her face slowly paled.

"The domestic violence charge will only get a slap on the wrist, and we can't charge you with arson. But it doesn't matter." Greg stated, placing his hands on his hips. Despite the coolness to his voice, there was a burning anger behind his dark chocolate eyes and his jaw was firmly set as he hammered the final nail in the coffin. "You're going to be far away from Sara. That's all we care about."

"This can't be right." Kirsty mumbled, shaking her head in loss. "You can't do this."

"Actually, we can." Greg countered, gathering his notes together again and moving towards the door.

Sofia gestured to the police officer by the door to remove Kirsty back to her cell and followed Greg's lead to leave. Catherine, however, wasn't ready to end this conversation quite yet.

"You know something, it _doesn't_ matter what we charge you with. It doesn't really matter what you did, because we all know who the real victim in all of this is and it's not you." She hissed.

"You bitch!" Kirsty snarled, attempting to pull free of the firm grip on her forearms. "This is all your fault! Sara and I were doing just fine until you came along! You took everything from me!"

"Yeah, I hope so." Cath leant across the table, lowering her voice to a seductive drawl. "But don't worry about Sara, I'll take good care of her."

Kirsty's face contorted into an expression of rage and, emitting a pained roar, she attempted to wrench herself free from the restraining hold on her.  
The officer hauled her backwards, slamming her against the far wall. She twisted and writhed, turning her head towards Catherine.

Letting any ounce of professionalism she still had fade away for the time being, the CSI sent her a dark smile and a wink as she sashayed out of the interrogation room.

X x x

"So, it's over." Grissom said at last, quelling Jim's concern that the man hadn't heard him. He remained very still, his gaze fixed on the far wall.

Brass continued to watch him carefully for a further couple or minutes, feeling uncomfortable in the odd silence that had surrounded them. After what felt like an age, Grissom began to nod slowly.

"Good."

Brass raised an eyebrow at him expectantly.

"That's it?" He questioned when it became evident that that was as much of a reaction he was going to get.

Grissom looked up, his eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Yeah." He shrugged, putting on his glasses and turning his attention to the stack of work cluttering his desk. He'd been ignoring it for the last few days, in light of recent circumstances, but if he let it mount up any longer it would take over his office.

Brass rolled his eyes at the man's lack of ability to share even the tiniest of emotions, even in such a personal case.

"You know, just because Kirsty's being charged; Sara is still going to need your support. Catherine too. They're still your team." The detective pointed out, subtly gesturing to the files Gil was pretending to read. "Maybe that could wait until later, hmm?"

Watching him leave with a perplexed frown, Grissom removed his glasses and stared blankly down at the folder again.

X x x

Perjury." Warrick repeated with a whistle. "Wow, that came out of left field."

"Yeah, well. I guess it doesn't really matter what they charge her with, as long as they throw the book at her." Nick mumbled, poking at his microwave meal disinterestedly with a fork.

"They will." Greg nodded, tipping his seat back and stretching his arms high above his head. "Brass said she'll get the maximum: four years and $5000 fine."

"Still not enough if you ask me." Warrick scoffed, the images on Catherine's phone burned into his memory forever. "After everything she did."

"Well, they're also forcing her to attend anger management sessions to 'learn how to control her temper'." The young man added. "And that's what Sara actually wanted in the first place."

"I bet Sara's just going to be happy that she's finally out of the way." Nick mumbled around a mouthful of food. "Although, I still wish she'd told us sooner."

"No point dwelling on that now." Greg settled back into his seat. "It's over, that's what matters. So, I guess that just leaves one thing."

The other men raised an eyebrow in question, waiting for elaboration.

"Who gets to tell her?" He explained as if it were obvious.

Warrick and Nick shared a look and chuckled softly at their friend's naivety.

"Didn't you notice how Catherine shot out of here as soon as she got a chance?" Warrick asked, gesturing towards the main doors.

"Yeah man, they're probably sat in the hotel bar celebrating as we speak!" Nick added jovially.

"Well, they'll be celebrating." Warrick agreed with a hearty laugh. "But I doubt they're doing it on the bar."

X x x

Catherine slid the glass doors open and wandered outside, feeling the cool air instantly penetrate her thin clothing. Sara was leaning against the balcony, her breath misting in the early morning chill, where she had been for the last half hour.

Catherine moved quietly up to the railing, wrapping her arms around Sara's waist from behind. She felt the brunette stiffen for a second before relaxing into her embrace.

"You okay?" She asked, pressing her lips against the younger woman's shoulder.

"Yeah." Sara breathed, tipping her head back. "Just thinking."

"About?"

"Where I'm going to live."

The corners of Catherine's mouth turned up to a small smile.

"Well, you know my place is still on offer." She pointed out slyly, pressing her full weight against Sara's body in an attempt to share as much body heat as possible.

Exhaling slowly, the girl turned in her arms and leant her back against the glass barrier.

"I know, and that's sweet." She nodded carefully. "But I meant on a more permanent basis."

"Oh. Well the fire investigation unit have said that you'll be able to go back to your flat in a few weeks. You'll have to deal with the smoke damage of course, but …"

"I'm not going back." Sara cut her off calmly, turning to look out over the city again. "I don't want to go back there."

Catherine nodded slowly, a concerned look creeping onto her face.

"Well, you've got time. There's no need to rush into anything." She assured her. When Sara didn't speak again, Cath took her by the hand and tugged her gently back into the room. "Come on."

Inside, they dropped onto the bed and stared straight ahead in silence. Both had things on their mind, but neither knew quite how to broach the subject.

"I called Hank today." Sara stated randomly after a long silence.

"And?" Catherine quirked an eyebrow. She'd been informed by Grissom how Hank had played hero and carried Sara out of the building but she hadn't decided how she felt about this yet. In all honesty, the paramedic had been the furthest thing from her mind lately.

"He's doing okay." She shrugged. "They let him out this morning. He's got a few weeks off work to fully recover."

"Maybe he'll go to Tahiti." Cath quipped dryly.

"He did save my life." Sara pointed out with a small smile.

"I know." Cath leant over to peck her lips,. "And I'm eternally grateful. But it doesn't mean I have to like him."

"No, I guess not." Sara laughed softly, falling back into a deep, thoughtful silence.

Catherine was the first to breach it, although her voice was so soft that Sara barely noticed.

"I still don't know where we are." She mumbled. "I don't want to pressure you, I know you've got a lot going on, but ... could we talk about it at least?"

Sara didn't so much as blink in response to the quietly-posed question, her watery hazel eyes still searching the small room.

"Should I take that silence as a no?"

"Hmm?" The brunette finally snapped back to the conversation, turning to Cat with a raised eyebrow. "Sorry?"

Cath smiled, brushing it aside. She still wanted an answer, but now was obviously not the right time.

"What's up?" She asked instead.

"I don't know." Sara sighed. "I want this," she licked her lips, squeezing Cath's hand where it lay beside her on the mattress. "I just don't know whether I can stay here anymore."

"Here?" Cath frowned, her voice taking on a small tremor despite her best attempts to remain calm. "You mean at CSI?"

"I mean in Nevada." Sara countered quietly, tipping her head towards the ceiling.

For a whole minute Catherine didn't react. Finally, her eyes went wide and her bottom lip began to shake.

"No … you can't be serious." She swallowed. "You can't leave."

"I haven't decided yet." The younger woman mumbled, furiously blinking back tears. "And before you say it, I know you can't uproot Lindsey. I wouldn't expect you to."

"Okay." Catherine cleared her throat, nodding carefully. "So, if you go, where does that leave us?"

Sara shook her head sadly, but she didn't say a word.

In truth, she didn't need to.


	37. Any wonder heaven's racked with thunder

**One more chapter to go!**

**x x x x**

Against her best instincts, Catherine flicked her eyes up to the mirror. She looked tired; she had barely slept.

After Sara's little bombshell, she hadn't known what to say, so she hadn't said anything. She had kissed her. She'd hoped that maybe if she held onto Sara tight enough and kissed her with enough passion then maybe it would be enough to convince her to stay.

A futile wish, of course. Sara had responded to the embrace in kind at first, but then she had gently pushed Catherine away and wandered back onto the balcony.

Cath had wanted to follow her. To bring her back and kiss her again; to make love to her … to give her a reason to stay.

But she hadn't. She'd gathered her things and left with a whispered goodbye.

Shaking her head to rid herself of the tears that were stinging her eyes at the rush of memories, she quickly dried her hands on a paper towel and pushed her way out of the women's bathroom.

It was early, before shift change, so there weren't many people around.

Which made it easier to spot the woman heading down the hallway.

"Sara!" She called, jogging after her. The brunette turned, an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" She asked.

"I need to talk to you." Cath gripped her arm, practically frogmarching her towards the office. She purposefully ignored the question, as well as Hodges' inquisitive stare from across the hall.

"I actually have a meeting…" Sara gestured weakly down the corridor, but Catherine didn't listen as she shoved her roughly through the door and shut it behind her.

Inside, she abandoned the bemused woman in the middle of the office and moved around her desk to retrieve something.

"Here." She produced a newspaper, placing it in Sara's hands. The girl didn't understand at first, until her attention was diverted to the red circles adorning the page. All one and two bed flats within her price range, and all in Las Vegas.

Sara's heart heaved at the gesture. Placing the paper on the edge of the desk, she offered a sad smile at Catherine's hopeful expression.

"Cat, this is sweet but…"

"Just hear me out." The woman held her hands up, perching on the corner of her desk and taking hold of Sara loosely by the forearms. "The main reason you wanted to leave was because of Kirsty. She's gone now. She can't hurt you anymore." She pointed out, her pace picking up with urgency. "Things in the lab will settle down eventually, once people get used to the idea, and then you and I can actually be together, without Kirsty or court or anything getting in the way."

"It's not that simple." Sara attempted to shrug out of her grip. "It's not just about what other people will say – would we even be allowed to work together after this."

Without an answer to that question, Cath tugged her closer and wrapped her into a hug.

"We'll work it out. I promise." She mumbled, pulling back just far enough to place a kiss on Sara's lips. "Just … stay. Please?"

She could see the reluctance in Sara's eyes, although she didn't know if it was because she was debating whether to stay or to leave.

Before she could work it out, a tired voice drifted from the doorway.

"How did I know that I would find you in here?"

Sara turned, still in Catherine's arms, to smile sheepishly at Ecklie. She instinctively attempted to move away, but Cath held her firm.

"Conrad." The blonde cocked her head to the side, inadvertently leaning it against Sara's shoulder. "Hypothetically, if Sara and I were to pursue a relationship, would we have to split the team up?"

Wandering into the room, he placed his hands on his hips.

"The book states that two people on the same team cannot be in a relationship." He recited dutifully.

"What do _you_ say?" She pressed, unconsciously tightening her hold on Sara.

"I say … that I'm going to have to think about it." He decided after intense deliberation. "Anyway, I thought this meeting was to discuss your leaving the lab?" He frowned at Sara in confusion.

She pursed her lips, casting a sly glance over her shoulder at Catherine.

The blonde was staring at her with wide, pleading eyes; it was an unusual look on the usually strong features, but one that Sara found damn near impossible to resist.

"Well, that depends on your answer to the last question." She said at last with a cocky smile.

He rolled his eyes, dropping his hands to his side.

"You know what, you guys need to get on the same page."

He turned to leave with a dismissive wave, coming face to face with Grissom in the doorway.

"Ecklie." The entomologist greeted coolly, quirking an eyebrow. "What's going on?"

"Apparently I'm being held to ransom." The lab executive huffed, throwing a glance back at the women. "Either I can lose a CSI or I can break the rules and have the Sherriff on my ass for the next month."

Grissom looked around him to where Catherine and Sara were smiling innocently from the desk. They were still locked together, their eyes bright and hopeful. Flicking his gaze back to Ecklie, his lips twitched into a small grin.

"When you see the Sherriff, tell him I said hi."

With a heavy sigh, Ecklie stropped past him towards his own office.

"Hi." Catherine said, dropping her arms and finally releasing Sara.

He ignored her, his gaze fixed on Sara's face.

"Does this mean you're staying?" He asked, almost bashfully. She pursed her lips, gesturing in the direction Ecklie had gone.

"That depends. I don't want to break up the team."

"By leaving, you'll be breaking up the team anyway." Catherine pointed out earnestly, taking her hand firmly between both her own.

"She's right." Grissom nodded. "We need you here."

She dropped her eyes, feeling her cheeks heat up. She had never been good at accepting such sentiments.

"Let's see what Ecklie says." She mumbled at last.

"He'll want you to stay." Grissom insisted, to her obvious scepticism.

"How do you know?" She scoffed. "I'm hardly his favourite member of staff."

"I know Ecklie; he won't lose a perfectly competent CSI for the sake of following the rules." Gil insisted. "Besides, if he does then the lab will be short-staffed, he'll have to pay out more overtime and the Sherriff will still be on his ass."

The women shared a small smile at his dry humour.

Shifting their eyes back to the door, they were both surprised to see that Grissom had already slipped out.

Alone again, Sara straightened up and stepped away from the desk.

"I should …" she gestured vaguely in the direction of Ecklie's office, inching awkwardly towards the door.

However, before she could move further out of her reach, Catherine tightened her grip on the brunette's wrist.

"Can you come round today?" She asked hopefully. "There's something I want to show you."

X x x

"Do you think she'll really go?" Wendy asked despondently, stirring her coffee lazily with the handle of a teaspoon.

"I don't know." Mandy brooded, propping her head up on her hands. "I hope not."

"I saw them talking to Ecklie earlier." Hodges shared. "I bet he loves having to deal with all of this."

"You mean he hasn't confided in you about it over your man-dates?" Archie asked sardonically, earning him a distasteful glower.

"All I'm saying is that you can't just sweep this all under the rug. It's going to take more than that to fix everything that's happened."

"This isn't something you can 'fix'." Greg snapped, making his presence known for the first time.

Unabashed, despiet their previous altercation, Hodges turned to him with a curious look.

"You must know what's going on." He inquired.

"Even if I did," Greg pushed himself off the doorframe and wandered into the break room. "Why would I tell you?"

"We just want to know that's Sara's okay." Wendy jumped in before tempers could fray again. "No one wants her to leave."

Greg opened his mouth to answer her, but a firm hand on his shoulder startled him into turning around.

"Sara's dealing with a lot of things, in her own way." Nick said calmly, levelling them all with a pointed look. "The reason she didn't tell us what was going on was because she was worried about the rumours that would spread."

"We understand." Mandy straightened up. "We don't want to hurt her, Nick."

"I know." He nodded, pulling Greg towards him and holding the smaller man against his chest. "And whatever Sara decides, we're going to support her. Isn't that right?"

The statement, light-hearted in tone, was clearly intended as a warning and the lab rats all agreed earnestly.

"Good." The Texan nodded, releasing Greg and striding back out of the room.

The feelings of guilt were still there, tormenting him. Sara was like a little sister to him, and he'd failed to realise what was going on even when the signs were right in front of him.

He couldn't take back the last six months, and he couldn't heal all of Sara's wounds. But he could make sure no one ever hurt her again.

Even those people who meant well.

X x x

"Come in, sit." Cath coaxed cheerfully, ushering Sara into her lounge.

The brunette narrowed her eyes suspiciously, perching on the edge of the sofa.

"Are you okay?" She queried, biting back a smile. "You seem nervous."

Catherine bit her lower lip anxiously, flexing her hands.

"I have something for you." She said at last. "But I don't know if you're going to like it."

"Okay." Sara nodded cautiously. "What is it?"

To her utter bemusement, Cath disappeared into a closet.

"Cat?" Sara squeaked, leaning around to see what she was doing.

When she returned, a shy smile dancing on her lips, she was carrying a large black canvas bag that Sara instantly recognised.

She should. It had come from her apartment.

"I know it won't have the same sentimental value." Catherine mumbled, watching with baited breath as Sara timidly unzipped the guitar case. "But it was the best I could do."

"Catherine, this…" Sara murmured, carefully extracting the instrument and running her hand over the sanded wood. "It's the same make." She noted, tenderly stroking the delicate hummingbird engraved into the body. "How did you remember?"

Cath pursed her lips, sitting on the coffee table in front of her girlfriend and placing one hand on her knee.

"I might have had some help with that." She conceded. "I asked Sofia."

"Sofia?" Sara frowned, finally tearing her eyes from the guitar. "I'm surprised she even remembered. She must have only seen it a handful of times."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence as Sara examined the light wood, taking a mental image of each and every feature. Catherine watched each tiny movement her hazel eyes made, watched her falling in love with each new piece she saw.

"You know, you never told me what actually happened between the two of you." She cleared her throat at last, breaking the peaceful quiet. It had been a subject she had wanted to broach for a while, but there never seemed a right time.

Photographing the bruises inflicted by Kirsty was hardly a good moment to ask about a previous failed relationship.

Sara looked up, hesitation briefly flashing across her face. For a moment Catherine didn't think she was going to answer.

"It seems so stupid now, after everything that's happened since." Sara mumbled eventually, leaning the guitar against the arm of the couch and pinning her hands nervously between her knees. "Sofia was getting frustrated with me, because I kept putting off sleeping with her."

Catherine moved silently to sit beside her, one hand making its way around the brunette's back.

"I wasn't trying to lead her on. I wasn't … I just…"

"It's okay." Cath reassured softly, reaching up to wipe away the crystal tears starting to trek down her friend's face.

"I was scared what she might say when she saw the scars." Sara continued quietly. "A bit of a moot point now, I guess."

"So, you and her never…"

"Only once." Sara sniffed. "She wanted to. So did I, I just … We kept getting so far and then I would stop her. One night, we'd had a bit to drink and she … everything happened before I could stop it. Afterwards, I panicked and pushed her away."

Beside her, Catherine swallowed hard, fighting the urge to hit something. Her and Sofia had come to an armistice of sorts in light of recent events, but that didn't mean Cath liked her any more now than she ever had.

"She got so freaked out and left. After that … we just didn't see each other again. Not until the teams were changed round."

"That was it? You just broke up, because of one night?"

"She couldn't understand it. I think she thought I was accusing her of … I wasn't." She swallowed hard, neglecting to finish the sentence. "It wasn't her fault. I never told her to stop – I didn't want her to. It was afterwards, in the light, that I panicked. It was my fault."

"No." Cath shook her head. "No it wasn't, baby. You couldn't help that."

"I wish I'd explained things to her. I guess I was ashamed."

"You don't have to be."

Sara flicked her eyes up, her tongue subconsciously darting out to lick her lips. Catherine caught sight of the movement and leant forwards. When Sara didn't move, she closed the gap.

However, the tender moment was interrupted by the untimely trilling of a phone. Her mouth barely touching Sara's, Cath emitted a frustrated sigh and snatched her cell phone from the table.

"Ecklie." She noted, peering at the name flashing on the little screen. The women locked eyes and she flipped the phone open, hitting speaker.

"Hello."

"_There would have to be strict rules."_ He stated without preamble. _"There would be no messing about at work. No domestics. No relationship stuff. Professionalism or nothing at all."_


	38. Now you can't tear my world apart

**Last one :) Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed and enjoyed this story. I'm already planning my next one, which should be up in the next few days. **

**x x x x**

**Epilogue**

"Jesus, what does she have in here?" Greg wheezed, landing heavily against the doorframe as he attempted to haul the box inside.

"You need to hit the gym, brother." Nick stated, sailing past him with his own load.

"Says the man carrying a box of throw cushions." Warrick mocked, noting Sara's handwriting daubed across the cardboard.

"Pillows?" Greg asked incredulously, dropping his own box and turning it around. "I get a box of books! How did you get pillows?"

"Are you guys going to argue all day or are you going to move boxes?" Sofia asked, poking her head around the door.

"Hey, where are the girls?" Warrick asked, nodding in greeting at the newly arrived detective.

X x x

Sara ran her hand over the chest of drawers, feeling the freshly sanded wood beneath her fingertips.

Rather than buy all new furniture, she had fixed up most of her old stuff and done her best to get rid of the smoke damage.

Except the bed, of course.

Speaking of, a pair of hands wrapped around her waist and dragged her backwards onto the brand-new mattress, still soft and springy. She emitted a startled squeal as she fell against a warm body.

"I like it here." Catherine giggled, shifting their positions and rolling on top of the brunette. "I intend to spend a lot of time here."

Sara grinned, leaning up to steal a kiss. In response, Catherine ran her hands up and down Sara's arms.

"I'm glad that you decided to stay." She mumbled, touching her nose to the younger woman's affectionately.

Sara smiled, biting her lower lip.

"Me too. I …"

Whatever she was about to say died on her lips as Nick poked his head into the bedroom.

"Hey lovebirds, save the hot stuff 'til we've gone yeah?" He joked. "There are boxes to carry."

"Screw the boxes; I want in on the hot stuff." Greg retorted from the living room, although the young man found himself collared by Warrick before he could sneak a peak of them together.

With a soft chuckle the girls clambered off the bed and dusted themselves down.

"Maybe Nick has a point." Catherine smirked, patting Sara on the butt as she slipped out after the boys with a cocky smirk. "We don't need an audience."

Alone, Sara wandered into her new flat and surveyed the space. The living area wasn't much bigger than her previous home, but the bedrooms were separate – two, in case Lindsey was likely to stay over.

Her guitar was already taking up pride of place beside the bookcase, the delicate patterning glowing in the morning sunlight.

New home, new relationship, new beginning.

She had received a visitation request from Kirsty, coincidently on the same day she had signed the lease for this apartment. She didn't know what the letter had said, she hadn't read it. She had looked up at Catherine, lazily stretched across the sofa reading a magazine with her golden hair simmering in the sun, and she had thrown the envelope away.

She didn't need to hear what Kirsty had to say. It wouldn't change anything.

"Hey." Greg's voice startled her out of her thoughts and she spun towards the door. "Sorry." He apologised with a bashful grin, holding up his hands defensively as he came into the room. "The couch is here."

Sara nodded, turning automatically to the empty space where it was going to live. She'd gotten most of the furniture set up before the boys had arrived, but it would be nice to have somewhere to sit.

"Hey Greg." She called quickly before he could leave. "Thanks."

To his surprise, she climbed around the boxes abandoned on her floor and hugged him.

"What for?" He asked, returning the embrace tightly.

"For looking out for me. For sticking up for me and Cath." She mumbled, stepping out of his arms.

He shrugged bashfully, flicking his brown eyes up to her face.

"You really want this don't you?"

"Yeah, I do." She smiled, a soft pink blush creeping up her cheeks.

He couldn't help but notice that she looked different recently. In all the years he'd known her, he had never seen her so relaxed, so content with her life.

"Well then you're welcome." He nodded. "And besides, as long as I know you're with her, I don't have to worry about anyone hurting you anymore."

As if her ears were burning, Catherine's head appeared around the door.

"Sara, hon, the couch is here." She smiled brightly.

Sara nodded, matching the expression.

Cath sent them a knowing wink before disappearing back into the hall, having noted their comfortable movements and close proximity. She had to admit, she had a lot to thank Greg for after everything that had happened.

Sharing a small smile, the two CSIs made to follow her.

Halfway into the corridor, Greg caught her lightly by the arm.

"Hey Sar," he cocked his head to the side with an innocently inquiring expression. "Since we're doing the whole gratitude thing, I'm just putting this out there…"

"No Greg, you cannot watch."

**~Fin~**


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